History : the city of Harvey, 1890-1962

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY

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ILL. HIST. SURVEY

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UNIVERSITY OF

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HISTORY

THE CITY OF HARVEY

1890-1962

Compiled in the Year 1962 after painstaking effort by
certain community pioneers who delved into dusty official
documents and deep into their own memories to peretuate
for the generations of the future the city of their forebears.

Published by the First National Bank in Harvey as a public
service on the occasion of its 25th anniversary as the city's
only banking institution.

opyright 1962 First National Bank in Harvey Printed in the U.S.A.

1

FOREWORD

It is with true pride in the City of Harvey that we have undertaken
through this document to preserve for our citizens of the future the
historical details of its early days, that they may remain enlightened
always of the great heritage that is theirs.

It is especially appropriate that this history of our city has been
undertaken in the year 1962 while there yet remains with us a seg-
ment of the pioneer population whose memories and personal docu-
ments provide the background material from which this history is
drawn.

Needless to say, that as time passes the ranks of these sturdy
pioneers will gradually thin and, were this documentary not under-
taken, the city's history might well pass with them.

This institution on the occasion of its 25th anniversary feels it is
especially appropriate to have played a part in recording for posterity
what it has reason to believe is a factual document that will preserve
for all time the milestones passed by this city and its sturdy residents
while emerging from a hamlet to what has been aptly described as the
greatest, most progressive little industrial city in the State of Illinois.

So, it is with pride and a deep sense of obligation to the City of
Harvey and those who have contributed to its greatness that we
present this document.

FIRST NATIONAL
BANK IN HARVEY

T7
I

To

WALTER HAINES

Tkis History is

Affectionately

Dedicated . . .

Without his inspiration, without his remarkable memory, without his en-
thusiasm this document would go unwritten.

A dedicated resident of the community, the passing years merely accentu-
ate his dedication to his fellowman.

Through five decades Walter Haines has demonstrated an unbounded en-
thusiasm for his adopted community, his adopted state, and his adopted country.

His great desire to be of service to his neighbor is best exemplified in his
long record of public service.

Since 1911, when he was a youth of 24, Walter Haines has served un-
irokenly in public office, a true and practical indication of the high esteem in
'hich he is held by his fellowman.

It is especially significant, as this history is being written, that Walter
riaines is observing his 50th anniversary as a public servant.

Over the years known as Harvey's "unofficial historian," it is hoped that
■vith the publication of this book his prior stature be abandoned and that
e be recorded for all time as Harvey's "official historian."

It can be said with truth that his home community became a great com-
nunity largely because of the unselfish devotion of Walter Haines.

BIOGRAPHY

WALTER HAINES

Born on October 27, 1887, in Somersetshire, England, the son of Joseph
and Mary Ann Haines.

Arrived in the United States at the age of three when his parents settled
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Moved to Harvey March 1, 1892, after a short period in Dolton. Learned
the machinist trade at Whiting Corp. from 1903 to 1907 and from 1908 to 1921
served as engineer and superintendent of the Pope Beet Sugar Works in River-
dale.

Conducted a building contractor business from 1908 to 1929.

Married to the former Theresa A. Fritsch on October 18, 1922.

Began political career as an alderman under Harvey's original form of gov-
ernment when he was elected at the age of 23 to fill an unexpired term of his
father.

Elected in 1912 as a City of Harvey commissioner when this new type of
government was instituted and served for eight years.

After four year absence from the city council, was elected again in 1924,
four years later sustaining the only political defeat of his career.

Elected as collector of Thornton Township in 1932 and re-elected each
fourth year since. Currently serving his eighth consecutive term, a record of
public service unparalleled in Thornton Township history.

Elected in 1912 as a member of the board of education of Grade School
District 152 and served for 15 consecutive years.

Elected in 1941 as a member of the board of directors of the First National
Bank in Harvey, he has served continuously in that capacity for 21 years.

Elected in 1934 as a member of the Thornton Township High School
District 205 Board of Education and served for 15 years.

In addition, served from 1907 to 1911 as captain of the Fifth Ward Volun-
teer Fire Department.

Helped organize the Thornton Township Clean Streams committee and for
his efforts in the crusade to restore the Calumet River to its original state, he
was cited by the Harvey Chamber of Commerce in 1931.

A lifelong member of the Republican party, he served as an alternate
delegate to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
in 1940 and again in 1948.

As a member of the St. Clements Episcopal church in Harvey, he was
chairman of the building committee under whose direction the edifice at 153rd
Street and Loomis Avenue was erected in 1922.

STATEMENT BY THE EDITOR

It is with a deep sense of humility that this difficult but pleasant task is

nfronted. As a native Harveyite it has been a constant source of pleasure

know personally and affectionately throughout the past 53 years many of

ose who assisted in gathering material for this publication — and the many

hose paths were crossed over this long span of time but who have passed on.

The task is approached with some degree of apprehension and with the
lowledge there will be incidents of history lost for all time. There will be
her historical phases that will go unrecorded because there is a lack of verifi-
tion occasioned by faded memories and of official documentation.

It will be the purpose of the editor to mingle historical facts with those
tmorous incidents which provide not only the factual side of the community's
velopment, but the behind-history incidents that contribute so richly to com-
inity culture and development.

To those of our pioneers who yet survive there will be "important" material
litted, but it is to be hoped that these old friends take, as the editor must,
overall view of the community, highlighting that which is of historical im-
irtance, that which indicates community growth, and that which can be
•nestly recorded as the milestones of history. While fiction is desirable it
ist, of necessity, be separated from fact; yet each must be accorded its pro-
pionate value.

Alec C. Kerr

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FIRST NATIONAL BANK IN HARVEY

ita

Chairman Frank P. Cowing,
left, and George F. Thies, right,
are the only remaining mem-
bers of the founding board of
directors.

Walter Haines

Harold B. Isaac

R. B. Van Haaften

Albert W. Hecht

Henry C. Waldschmidt

Dr. C. E. Simon

FIRST NATIONAL
BANK IN HARVEY

OFFICERS

R. B. Van Haaften, President

George F. Thies
Vice-President

Glenn W. Swanson
Vice-President

Donald G. King
Vice-President and Cashier

J. Merton West
Assistant Vice-President

William R. Bruin
Assistant Cashier

Jesse H. Black
Assistant Cashier

Gertrude Hartkoorn
Assistant Cashier

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Frank P. Cowing, Chairman-Counsel

George F. Thies

R. B. Van Haaften

Harold B. Isaac

Dr. Clarence E. Simon

Albert W. Hecht

Henry C. Waldschmidt

Walter Haines

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK IN HARVEY

Despite the fact that it was the biggest community in the area, the most
important industrially, the seat of the township educational system and mer-
chandising center of considerable stature, the City of Harvey was without a
banking institution for more than five years, 1932 until 1937.

Once the site of two banks, the First National of Harvey and the Bank
of Harvey, a state-chartered institution, the community found itself without
this facility in 1932 when the tenacles of the Great Depression, which began
in October 1929, had spread throughout the nation, encompassing the bank-
ing business.

Thus Harvey businessmen and residents were forced elsewhere to conduct
their banking transactions — many to South Holland, others to Homewood and
Blue Island.

The First National Bank in Harvey of today actually had its birth in Home-
wood and was the result of considerable personal effort on the part of Frank
P. Cowing, a Homewood attorney whose family was widely known in the
area and who for many years has had a prominent role in both the legal and
real estate professions, politics and banking.

Although he is a lifelong resident of Homewood, Mr. Cowing has had
more than an ordinary association with the community life of Harvey.

First, he was graduated from Thornton Township high school before
winning a bachelor's degree at Michigan State university. Serving for a num-
ber of years as superintendent of an industrial school in North Dakota, he
later finished the requirements for a Juris Doctor degree at the Chicago-Kent
College of Law. He is associated with his son, Frank Jr., in the practice of law
in Homewood. His organizational talents are indicated by the fact that he
guided the organization of a number of co-operative marketing associations
and the first Federal Farm Loan associations under the Federal Land Bank of
St. Paul, Minnesota.

He is a former member of the board of education of Thornton Township
high school and a former president and charter member of the Homewood
Rotary club.

Since the formation of the First National Bank in Harvey he has served on
its board of directors and as its counsel. He has the unique record, which he
shares with George F. Thies, of having served the institution, first in Home-
wood then Harvey, for 37 consecutive years. Upon the death of George H.
Gibson, Mr. Cowing was named chairman of the board, in which capacity he
has since served. He and Mr. Thies are the only original officers and directors
of the bank active in 1962.

He was one of a group, which included his father, James A., who founded
on January 10, 1925, the Cook County Trust and Savings Bank of Homewood.
Included in the founding group were such prominent personalities as George
F. Thies, Henry F. Thies, Dr. William Doepp, Arthur E. Schultz, J. C. Howe,
and William F. Warning.

Officers and original employees of the Homewood institution were: James
A. Cowing, president; George F. Thies, cashier, and Herbert A. Fedderson,
assistant cashier.

The history of the Homewood Trust is recorded here because it actually
was the predecessor of today's First National Bank in Harvey.

It was a small institution serving a small community, but it proved its
solidity during the depression years of the early 1930's when bank closings
were the rule rather than the exception.

8

Early records reveal that the Homewood Trust "is justifiably proud of the
act that at no time during those trying years were withdrawals of accounts
;ubject to notice," a most unusual and commendable state of condition.

The records further reveal that "at no time was any portion of its deposits
Tozen." After the two-week national moratorium, beginning on March 3, 1933,
during which every bank in the nation was closed for investigation purposes,
he Homewood Bank resumed "business as usual."

Three years later, at the instigation of Frank P. Cowing, consideration was
»iven toward moving the institution to "bankless" Harvey, a bigger com-
munity which gave promise of permitting greater opportunity for expansion
)f the bank.

Several problems arose, most important being that in order to transfer,
he status of the bank had to be changed from a state to a nationally chartered
nstitution. This required, of course, the unanimous consent of the stockholders.

It was with determination that Frank P. Cowing assumed the responsibility
)f obtaining this consent, a project that consumed much time and necessitated
nuch travel.

Mr. Cowing's search completed, the transfer from state to national status
vas consummated on January 29, 1937, when the institution was formally
lamed the Cook County National Bank of Homewood.

Meantime, Mr. Cowing's search also included gaining the interest of
prominent and responsible residents of Harvey in the transfer of the institution,
-lis success was indicated in the personnel of the new board of directors of
he Homewood bank, which included William R. Brandt, George H. Gibson,
Dr. B. T. Stevenson, Grant Summerville and Henry Waldschmidt, all of Harvey.

Directors from other communities were William J. Claussen, Mr. Cowing,
Dr. William Doepp, Albert W. Hecht, William Nietfeld, George F. Thies,
^enry F. Thies and John H. Thies.

Officers elected were: Henry F. Thies. president; Dr. William Doepp and
Dr. B. T. Stevenson, vice presidents; George F. Thies, cashier; Herbert A.
"edderson, assistant cashier, and George F. Gibson, chairman of the board of
lirectors.

The organizational details completed, decision was reached to move the
nstitution to Harvey on February 8, 1937 and it was named The National
Sank of Harvey. The building at 174 East 154th Street, home of the old Bank
>f Harvey, was purchased and doors were opened for business on March 8.
\t a formal dedication on March 13, residents of Harvey and the area were
nvited to view the new facility.

One year after it began operations the institution's statement of condition
howed an increase in deposits from $621,262 to $1,132,788. Thereafter, con-
istent growth, indicating wide public acceptance, has been experienced and
n its last statement on June 30, 1962 deposits had leaped to $20,322,205.

Upon the death of Henry F. Thies in 1941, his brother, George, was named
o the position of executive vice president. John Hoffman was named president
nd for the subsequent seven years he guided the bank through an impressive
>eriod of growth. He also became closely associated with the civic growth of
he city and contributed much to campaigns which culminated in the forma-
ion of Harvey Memorial Young Men's Christian Association, an improved
treet lighting system in the residential areas, and administration of the Louis
toudreau scholarship fund.

During Mr. Hoffman's term assets grew from $4,315,806 to $10,900,472.

From its founding, the institution has been gifted with exceptional leader-
hip, and when Richard B. Van Haaften assumed the vacancy left by

the death of Mr. Hoffman on July 1, 1950 the growth of the institution was
not merely maintained, but accelerated. Named executive vice president upon
his arrival here from South Haven, Michigan, he later was elevated to the presi-
dency and he continues during this year of 1962 to serve in that capacity.

It was under the supervision of Mr. Van Haaften that the bank's assets
increased to over $24,000,000, and he was the directing influence in a vast
expansion of the bank's facilities, needed to serve its rapidly increasing clientele.

Since his arrival Mr. Van Haaften has made himself conspicuous on the
community level and few fund drives or civic betterment campaigns are con-
ducted without his assistance and counsel.

A native of Michigan, he attended Kalamazoo college and the University
of Michigan where he majored in Business Administration. He entered the
banking field in 1921 and it became his life's work. He attended the American
Institute of Banking and became a vice president of the Michigan Banking
Association.

Prior to coming to Harvey he was executive vice president of the Bank of
South Haven, a position that he held from 1930 through 1950. In that com-
munity he became closely affiliated with civic life and he served as president of
the Community hospital, the Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club, the
Salvation Army and of the American Red Cross, which he also headed as
county chairman.

In Harvey his civic activities continued. He was named chairman of the
Building Committee of Harvey Memorial Y.M.C.A. and is still a member of
its board of directors. He has also been a member of the Executive Committee
of the Chicago Y.M.C.A. for a number of years.

A past president of the Southern Cook County Bankers Association he has
also been a member of the Council of Administration of the Illinois Bankers
Association.

For many years he was treasurer of the American Cancer Society and he
has taken an active part in the work of the Harvey Association of Commerce
and Industry in which he has held the offices of president, treasurer, and mem-
ber of the board of directors, the Taxation and Street Lighting committees.

On October 1, 1958, the name of the institution was legally changed to the
First National Bank in Harvey and in the following month, both the new name
and the new enlarged and modernized building were presented to the citizenry
at a formal open house, with several thousand persons in attendance.

There have been a number of changes in the 'board of directors throughout
the years. Elected to membership on the board of directors at various times
have been: Walter Haines, 1942; Henry J. Van Der Giessen, 1946; Harold B.
Isaac, 1947, and Dr. Clarence E. Simon, 1960, who was named to fill an un-
expired term upon the death of Mr. Van Der Giessen in that year.

Frank P. Cowing was elected to succeed George H. Gibson as chairman
of the board of directors upon the latter's death in 1955 and continues to
function in that capacity.

The present board consists of the following members in addition to Chair-
man Cowing: Walter Haines, Albert W. Hecht, Henry C. Waldschmidt, Harold
B. Isaac, Dr. Clarence E. Simon, R. B. Van Haaften and George F. Thies.

So, also, have there been some changes in the bank's executive personnel.
Becoming a member of the staff in 1941, Glenn W. Swanson presently holds
the office of vice president and serves as secretary for the board of directors.
Donald G. King, whose period of service extends from 1944, holds the office
of vice president and cashier; J. Merton West, employed since 1958, is assist-
ant vice president; Gertrude Hartkoorn, an employee since 1941, is an assistant

10

;ashier, as are William R. Bruin, whose employment began in 1955 and Jesse
H. Black, on the staff since 1953.

As demands for banking service multiplied over the years the need for
more personnel developed and another example of the remarkable growth in
:he First National Bank is the increase from the six employees of 1937 to the
sixty of 1962. For their convenience, a coffee shop and lounges have been
Drovided on the second floor for use during rest and lunch periods.

Property adjacent to the bank was purchased and a complete expansion and
-emodeling program inaugurated. A wing to serve the public more efficiently
was added to the property at the east. The second floor of the structure, previ-
Dusly leased out as professional suites, was transformed into a "working area,"
:he staff greatly augmented and the latest in electronic banking machines in-
stalled to afford more accurate, convenient and speedier customer service.

A number of employees with long records of service have made substantial
personal contributions to the growth of the institution and now fulfill important
assignments in the bank's operations.

Included are: Mamie Kostok. a part-time teller, whose association started
3n February 1, 1942; Mrs. Olive Conger, a teller, whose employment started
Dn September 1, 1942; Mrs. Marie Worcester, part-time analysis clerk, whose
service dates back to November 28, 1944.

Other veteran employees are Elsa Swanson, commercial teller, February 19,
1945; Mrs. Genelle Laken, general bookkeeper, September 16, 1947; Mrs.
Phyllis Weaver, savings teller, July 10, 1949; Mrs. Patricia Brown, commercial
bookkeeper, January 8, 1950.

Employees with long periods of service and holding responsible positions
n the institution are: Mrs. Verna Wojcik, secretary to the president, whose
employment began December 15, 1944; Mrs. Constance Howell, new accounts
:lerk. employed since September 10, 1957.

It can be said with authority that the First National Bank in Harvey is the
:ity's "major intersection." Those from each community segment, business,
ndustrial and civic, cross paths in the spacious lobby of this home institution.

11

MEMBERS
HARVEY HISTORICAL COMMITTEE

Walter Haines, Chairman

Alec C. Kerr, Vice Chairman James A. Mann, Secretary

Glenn W. Swanson, Treasurer

John Hock
Foss P. Miller
Paul Miller
Eugene Silveri
Henry Stein
O. Fred Umbaugh
Guy Howland
Mary Howland
Hazel Wegener
Robert Bentley

Arthur E. Turngren
Adelaide Childs
Winnifred Seidel
L. R. Holler, Jr.
Cedric Casler
Verne V. Vedder
Elmer G. Kich
Roe Mallstrom
Mrs. T. H. Kaldenberg

12

HARVEY
IN THE BEGINNING

* * *

ITS FIRST SETTLERS

13

14

FORMULA

With the foregoing as background, it is well now to dig from the archives
the details that, aside from being fundamental, indicate the growth in stature of
the community.

It should be repeated that community growth and solidity must be con-
structed on a tested recipe and such a recipe is based on two fundamental in-
gredients — people and government. The flavor is enhanced, indeed, by the
addition of the herbs of economics, education and religion. No community
can bid for perpetuity without the blending of these ingredients.

Thus, if one is to assume that the history of the City of Harvey is worthy
of heritage so it must be a history of which those who helped write it can be
proud.

It will be the purpose in succeeding pages to record, for those of the future
who are to assume the responsibility of citizenship, at least some of the factors
which represent their inheritance. Obviously, events recorded chronologically
defy the best editorial effort, but as nearly as possible this method of approach
will be observed.

As mentioned before, people and government make communities and it is
fitting that they be dealt with individually.

THE EARLY YEARS

The history of the founding of Harvey before it assumed that name in 1890
is somewhat vague, and what is available was contained briefly in an introduc-
tion to a supplement published by the Harvey Tribune-Citizen of 1902.

However, this seemingly insignificant part of the supplement now assumes
tremendous importance as it is the only material available which sets forth the
actual founding of South Lawn, as the community was known before the
advent of Turlington W. Harvey and, incidentally, what is known today as the
City of Harvey.

In the 1850's according to authentic documents recorded at the turn of
the century, the Illinois Central was granted by the Illinois legislature each
alternate section of land along its proposed route. Included in this was "section
eight," the south portion of which was sold to one C. C. C. P. Holden of Ken-
tucky in 1865.

In two transactions Holden sold on May 9, 1871, and on August 2, 1872,
his interest to a syndicate composed of Samuel Delamater, John K. Rowley,
Joshua P. Young, Seth Waddens, Josephus Collett, and Joseph E. Young.

The syndicate inaugurated the first formal action of creating a community
by dividing the plot of 1700 acres into blocks and recording the entire plot of
ground.

This, the Tribune-Citizen records, was the first "boom" given the site of
Harvey. A small map and brochure constituted the community's first adver-
tisement, offering "large lots and gardens for $100 with free transportation to
and from Chicago for a year to those who actually became settlers."

John Gay must be credited with being the first settler. How old he was,
where he came from, the size of his family, his education, his hopes, his
achievements, his ambitions, must be forever lost in the uncertainty of time,
but it is important that he received a deed to two lots on October 1, 1874.

For at least two years he lived a lonely life, without neighbors, but there

15

was no lack of activity. A contractor by profession he is credited with having
laid out several streets, planted trees, and, equally important, to have engi-
neered the grading of the Grand Trunk railway from Thornton through
South Lawn.

John Gay was to be host, some five years later, to South Lawn's first in-
dustry, and this may have been the inspiration needed to attract other industry
forming the basis for the modern boast that Harvey is Illinois' "biggest little
industrial city."

Nonetheless, in 1880 Harvey L. Hopkins built the Hopkins Mower Works,
and in that same year in obvious anticipation of a population "boom," a hotel
was constructed "near the railroad crossing." Whether this hotel entertained
guests, how many, and what kind, is another of the details of Harvey history
that must go unrecorded.

During the subsequent decade, members of the syndicate which originally
invested in South Lawn pursued their respective interests and as a result new
owners of the land cropped up. So it was that A. G. Spaulding obtained from
one of the syndicate some 500 acres west of what is now Ashland Avenue for
an undisclosed sum. Spaulding, in a fit of self perpetuation, sought to create
a community named for himself and the extent of his success can only be
measured by the fact that no part of the community ever became, legally,
"Spaulding."

It is significant that one of the few residents of South Lawn in 1889 was
William H. Pease, his name becoming important only because he was later to
serve as postmaster after the community adopted the name of Harvey. Other
residents at the time were George Stiles, John DeGraff, and James B. Wilson,
whose fate is also lost for the archives.

At this point, in November 1889, Turlington W. Harvey, whose name
today graces this community, was to cast his influence. Ere 1890 had passed
he made substantial purchases of property and in June, 1890, he conveyed to
the newly-formed Harvey Land Association all the land he had purchased. By
1891 the association had acquired the property that was later to form the
foundation for the future Harvey. It is legend that the village assumed the
name of Harvey, and it was under that name that Harvey came into official
being in May, 1891.

However, it should be recorded that the name Harvey was, more or less,
a compromise. Turlington Harvey preferred the name "Turlington," but Will-
iam H. Pease, who had succeeded John Gay as postmaster, suggested "Harvey"
as a combination of Turlington W. Harvey and Harvey L. Hopkins, who had
founded the community's first industry. Although Mr. Harvey was reluctant
about the compromise, Postmaster Pease settled the issue by registering the
name with the United States Postoffice department.

And so it was that Harvey came into being with the bustling city of today
bearing small resemblance to the tiny hamlet which was its ancestor. The
active manufacturing community of the 1960's has evolved from the com-
bined efforts of government, industry, schools, churches, civic and fraternal
organizations and innumerable individuals whose devotion provided the moral
background from which ideal communal life must emanate.

Turlington W. Harvey, the community's first major influence, was a Chi-
cago lumber merchant and described in ancient documents as a "capitalist,"
which could lead to the assumption that his interest was more financial than
moral.

Nonetheless, he is credited with being the genius which transformed an un-
broken prairie, without streets, sidewalks, water, sewers, factories, schools,

16

churches or homes into a community whose growth to 5000 population within
a three-year period earned it the sobriquet "The Magic City" and thus it be-
came known from coast to coast.

Under the guiding hand and ambitions of Turlington W. Harvey frame
and masonry houses ejected themselves from the soil as mushrooms. Ribbons
of cement sidewalks replaced the dirt paths, a business area belched forth as
paved streets replaced wagon tracks. Water and sewer lines were laid forming
the foundation for what eventually became the modern, efficient facilities of
today.

But the material improvement did not exceed in pace the tangibles of com-
munity morality — and as people arrived they brought with them the human
desire for religion and education. Neither suffered in the explosive develop-
ment that was to follow.

The fact that today taverns dot the Harvey business scene might lead to

i some surnrise that the city was founded as a "temperance" settlement and it

was on this basis that the Harvey Land Association, first major real estate

promoter, was able to consummate many sales as people from throughout

the world converged on Chicago for the Columbian Exposition in 1893.

The seriousness with which the founders viewed their city of the future as
i one of abstainers is demonstrated by the fact that original deeds to property
contained an "iron-clad" clause which provided for forfeiture of any property
used as a saloon, or if liquor were sold on the premises, or if those premises
were used for immoral or gambling purposes. The clause, which undisputably
: led to the sale of much property, contained the rather startling (and which
through subsequent years proved to be useless) clause:

"If the purchaser (taken out of context) uses any part of the
property for the purpose of permitting any intoxicating drink to be
manufactured, sold or given away upon said premises, or permits
gambling to be carried on thereon, or creates any house or other
place of lewd and immoral practice thereupon, he, his heirs, execu-
tors, administrators and his assigns shall be divested of the entire
estate and it shall revert to the party of the first part."

That the stipulations were both fallacious and unenforceable was proved
] through the years. Although history does not reveal the first violator of the
i deed's provisions, the violators mounted through the years. Lack of enforce-
i ment of the original regulations, changes in the community's general character,
plus public apathy — or demand — are the factors which reduced to ignonim-
ity the very scruples upon which the community was founded and had actually
) accounted for the early real estate activity.

It should be recorded here that the "Temperance town" of yesteryear is
now the home of 41 establishments where intoxicating beverages are dispensed.
I It should be recorded also that the terms of the original deed, which stipulated
[that this could not be the scene of houses of "ill repute" has been scrupu-
lously observed. Throughout the many succeeding years Harvey has main-
tained the enviable reputation of being a morally attractive community. There
is not in the record any entries that would indicate the city is populated
by anything but law-abiding citizens. As these words are recorded there is no
[official evidence that lewd or immoral establishments have ever been allowed
ito establish or flourish.

17

ORIGINAL INVESTORS

It can be stated with little fear of contradiction that the real estate sales
program of the early 1890's was a most effective one which captured the
imagination of investors of more than minor significance.

Among the stockholders of the Harvey Land Association besides the officers
and directors, are the following well-known institutions and persons: Northfield
(Mass.) Institute (founded by Mr. D. L. Moody), Ira D. Sankey and Lucius
N. Bigelow; Dr. John E. Owens, the well-known physician and surgeon of
Chicago; S. A. Kent, a prominent Chicago capitalist; Henry B. Stone, presi-
dent of the Chicago Telephone Company and former vice president of the
C.B. & Q. railroad; George M. Bogue, manager of the Grant Locomotive
Works real estate branch; J. C. Welling, treasurer of the Illinois Central
railroad; Charles W. Deering of the Deering Manufacturing Company; H. H.
Hitchcock, assistant cashier of the Metropolitan National Bank; Judge Richard
S. Tuthill, and many others.

The first excursion and sale of lots took place August 16, 1890. The enter-
prise was duly advertised; its fundamental principles were clearly enunciated
and the public was given an opportunity to invest. The result far exceeded the
most optimistic anticipations. It would seem as if people in every part of the
United States had been waiting to put their money in a town of which, in fact,
they had only just heard; and not only buy lots, but make their homes there.

So it was that the foundation was poured for a thriving community.

But what of life?

What of people?

What was there about a flat, uninteresting terrain, without physical beauty,
without many of the natural attributes to be found elsewhere in the nation that
would attract people? Why would one settle here? Why would one remain?

Historically, Harvey has little of the dramatic background possessed by
many other communities. It lacks the color of Indian raids. It was not a way
station for the wagon trains on their treks west. No pony express rider is ever
known to have changed mounts here. Harvey played no part in the Civil War.

Those are the exciting events of a past of which this community is devoid.

But Harvey is not without background. It is not without tradition. Its
major historical importance lies in the development of its culture.

The story is concerned mainly with that sturdy stock of yesteryear who
sought a home, a job, a place to rear its children. It concerns people, neighbor-
ly people devoted of family, rich in pride and love of country.

From nations in Europe, from scattered points in America these working
people gathered, seeking to establish a home. Many of those who came died
here. Their offspring still live here, and thus the Harvey of today is a result of
the insatiable desire of those who now belong to the ancestral past.

William D. Rogers

City's First Salesman,

He came here and stayed

Perhaps no person is more qualified than the late
William D. Rogers to discuss the founding and early

18

1

1 Mj;

' ■'- HhLJI 4MM

Hhm

THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL STATION WHERE W. D. ROGERS MET HIS PROSPECTS

development of the city. He was one of several sales-
men employed by the Harvey Land Association to
greet World's Fair visitors as they arrived here by
Illinois Central suburban train to view this marvel of
the prairie where immorality was not to be tolerated.
Therefore, his recollections assume a degree of histor-
ical importance which can be equalled, probably, by
no other individual.

FROM THE MEMOIRS OF
WILLIAM D. ROGERS

In my introduction to the duties of an employee of the Harvey Land
Association in early 1890 I found that a salesman was assigned to every train
leaving Chicago after 9 o'clock in the morning. It was my duty to appear
at the office, 819 Rookery Building, and any customers appearing in time to
go on the train leaving Chicago at 9:20 a.m. were my customers. Before many
days had elapsed I became acquainted with a man who had previously bought
two lots in Harvey, the lots being 23 and 24 in Block 71, 50 feet on Center
Ave., by 171 feet on 154th St., for which he had paid a purchase price of
$1100.00.

The purchaser was John Chisholm of Marinette, Wis. As he had never
seen the property, having bought it from a plat, it was my privilege and duty
to show him his purchase. He soon began to make inquiries of the other local
real estate agents as to the price and value of this property and was soon sur-
ounded by W. S. Chatfield, George Utley, Sam Daniels and many others, and
after spending the balance of the day in Harvey, he returned to Chicago. In
about 60 days his lots were sold for $3300.00

At that time the Craver, Steele and Austin Company was employing about
450 men and the buildings for the Buda Company were under construction
and were occupied by the company as soon as they were completed. On May
1, 1893, the Craver, Steele & Austin Company made a shipment of a train-
load of harvesting machinery to New York to be shipped from there to the
Argentine Republic.

Wm. H. Harrison, 15735 Myrtle Ave., who came to Harvey with this

19

company from Grinnell, Iowa, was sent to South America to supervise the
setting up of this harvesting machinery.

One of the industries acquired by the Harvey Land Association in 1892
was the Bellaire Stamping Company which was situated in the five-acre block
on the north side of the Grand Trunk tracks, now occupied by the Ingalls-
Shepard Company. The Bellaire Stamping Company manufactured enameled
cooking utensils and had a large office force and employed many skilled
mechanics.

The Harvey Transit Company, promoted and financed by the Harvey Land
Association, owned the Harvey Water Works, constructed the power house
in its present location in West Harvey, installed the necessary machinery to
furnish Harvey with electric lights, and also operated the first street car line
in Harvey which furnished transportation for the employees of the Bellaire
Stamping Company.

The street car line was in operation for several years and electric cars ran
on Columbia Ave., now Broadway, from 154th St. to 156th St., west on 156th
St. to Marshfield, thence north to 151st St., west on 151st Ct. to Page Ave.,
north on Page to 147th St. The line was never self-supporting and when its
financial support was withdrawn it was discontinued.

In 1892 the promoters of a subdivision which they had named Phoenix
Park, believing it would improve the sale of their property, made negotiations
for a World's Fair Masonic Hotel which was constructed on Block C, which
was that block of property now vacant, west of the block upon which the
Perfection Gear Company is now located. The contract was let and the build-
ing which was a three-story frame, had a pretentious front facing south on
152nd St.

When it was nearly completed it suddenly took fire and burned completely.
The Harvey firemen worked valiantly to save this property, but some people
in Harvey today will remember that this building burned for several hours and
the Illinois Central trains were impeded on account of the intense heat from
it. The promoters had not succeeded in consummating an expected loan and
the building being uninsured was an entire loss to the creditors.

The initial steps for sewers on Turlington Ave. had to be taken and the
necessary drainage for the Whittier school building which was located on the
northeast corner of 153rd St. and Turlington Ave provided. It was an eight
room, rockfaced stone building and was completed in 1892 costing about
$30,000

THE CALUMET RIVER

Located in the great plains of Midwestern United States Harvey was
ideally fitted for the industrial city that it became. However, natural beauty
was not a part of its topography — no mountains, valleys, snow-capped peaks.

It was blessed, nevertheless, with one lovely physical asset — the Calumet
River.

When Walter Thomas Mills subdivided what is commonly known as North
Harvey, he called it "Academy addition to Harvey," and uppermost in his
plans for attracting buyers was the Calumet River whose source was in Black
Oak, Indiana.

This was truly a place of beauty, a swiftly moving stream of clear, un-
polluted water, bordered with plant life and trees of many varieties. Its waters

20

emanated from the Deep River which flowed into the Calumet at a point east
of Gary, Indiana.

Well stocked with fish, it was an attraction for people from a wide area,
and weekends found scores of boats plying its waters, some there for the
pleasure of boating, others testing their luck at the end of a fishing pole. Still
others sat in shady spots along the river banks, picknicking and taking occa-
sional dips into the clear water. Many boat houses dotted the south bank and
boat rentals formed a lucrative business. From the Illinois Central railroad
bridge to the old Haines home some one mile west, there were numerous boat
piers, one of the outstanding having been operated by the Cadmus family
whose home still stands at 409 Calumet Boulevard.

The river was a haven for the younger set and many came from surround-
ing communities to launch canoes and take their "dates" for a paddle down
the river.

In winter the river was an equally attractive rendezvous and ice skating
was a most popular sport. Naturally, there were skaters who outshone others
and old-timers recall that two of the most proficient were Bill Ferguson of
North Harvey and Elmer Hill of Harvey, both noted as "figure" skaters. The
Verhoeven girls, whose family home was on the north bank of the river just
west of the 147th Street bridge, were also acclaimed as able skaters and on
many occasions they were hostesses at gala parties for their fellow students at
the high school and friends from the Ascension church.

The waters of the Calumet were put to another more practical use and
each winter John Beck, operator of a Harvey coal yard at 152nd Street and
Columbia Avenue, arranged to have ice cut into blocks which were stored in
a huge ice house on the site now occupied by the Degenhart Millwork Compa-
ny at the Grand Trunk tracks and Main Street. In the summer the ice was
delivered to the city's housewives and it is legend that the ice was of such purity
"it could be used in iced tea."

The river's great period as a playground for the residents was destined for
extinction with the construction of Burns' ditch east of Gary, Indiana which
was to divert the flow of Deep River from the Calumet and deliver the water
straight to Lake Michigan.

In the late 1920's Albert M. Lambert, Sr. waged a vigorous but futile
campaign in the columns of his Harvey Tribune in an attempt to prevent the
diversion of the Calumet waters, but an apathetic citizenry, either uninterested
or because of ignorance, did not provide sufficient moral support for the
Lambert crusade.

Mr. Lambert sought through numerous editorials to arouse townsmen,
pointing out that diversion doomed the city's only real physical asset. The
failure of this gallant fight resulted in the death of the stream as a family at-
traction and it serves today as a mere drainage ditch, polluted and unfit for
the use for which nature intended it.

Today, the Calumet river continues to wind through the South Cook
county suburbs but it is a mere ghost of its former greatness. It is a lazy
stream, shallow during dry periods but somewhat of a raging torrent during
times of excessive rainfall when in many places it overflows its banks, flooding
adjacent areas and some residences.

Although it has made efforts through the years to restore the river to its
former greatness, the Calumet Clean Stream committee's campaign has not
been productive, its recommendations being lost in a maze of political red tape.

As these words are being recorded there are surveys being undertaken by
th United States Corps of Army Engineers directed toward widening and

21

deepening the channel of the Calumet, to facilitate the flow of its waters, but
these efforts are being made not so much to restore the river's original beauty,
but to prevent it from overflowing its banks during flood periods. Whether
anything beneficial will result from these surveys is impossible to determine
at the present.

HARVEY'S FIRST CHAMPIONS

No history of the city would be complete without recording the exploits of
Prince and Duke, a pair of sturdy horses who brought fame and fortune to the
Harvey Fire Department.

Beautiful dapple grays, they were acquired by the city in 1897 or 1898
during the administration of Jonathan Matthews when the first fire department
was formed under Chief John Ott. Other members of the department were
Chick Davidson, George Greiner, Lou Madory, Emil Dayton and Claude
Roeder. Only Mr. Madory survives and he continues to reside at 15235
Center Avenue.

It was Mayor Matthews who approved the purchase of a team of horses to
pull the city's fire wagon and it was Frank Stevenson, a drayman, who was
selected to make the purchase.

Having alerted the Chicago Stock Yards that he was looking for a suitable
team, it was shortly thereafter that the somewhat "short-legged" dapple grays
were obtained for $400.

Training of the team was assigned to Chief Ott and Davidson and each
night at the sound of the fire gong, Prince and Duke would emerge from their
stalls, take their places in front of the fire wagon and be hitched by Lou
Madory and Emil Dayton. Crowds were present each night to watch the
performance.

PRINCE AND DUKE - A ROYAL PAIR

22

Prince and Duke got their first taste of competition in 1902 at Calumet
Grove, on the banks of the Calumet River near Blue Island where a tourna-
ment drew teams from East St. Louis, Gibson City, Peru, Mendota, Evanston
and many other Illinois communities.

The setting was a temporary fire station and a half mile course over which
the entrants ran in a race against time. After races against Blue Island and
Evanston the Harvey team was disqualified on a technicality, but the protests
of Chief John Ott and his firemen were so vehement that the judges decided
to re-run the race against Evanston the following day.

"John Ott's Cows," as the Harvey team came to be known, were ready,
jumped off to a half length lead and maintained it until the finish.

With the victory came a cash prize of $285 and when Prince and Duke
were driven into town they were the recipients of one of the greatest welcomes
ever produced by the citizenry.

The glorious days of Prince and Duke ended about 1908 or 1909 when
they were slowed down by age and replaced by a team of bays. They were
turned over to the Street department and Jim Powers and George Houser.
They continued, however, to be treated as champions and were never over-
worked or abused. Yet, pulling a garbage wagon seemed to be an inglorious
end for such worthy champions and eventually they were turned over to a
farmer in Glenwood where they spent their remaining years in comparative
luxury.

This was a royal team, indeed.

THE BICYCLE RACES

Although the bicycle has retained its place in the favor of the community's
and indeed, the nation's younger set, this vehicle at one time constituted a major
form of transportation.

Before automation, the automobile and other of the modern methods of
conveyance, the bicycle was indispensable. It had more than a practical value,
being the medium that furnished a pioneer population with a form of compe-
tition and entertainment, unexcelled by anything with the possible exception
of the races engaged in by the old horse-drawn equipment of area fire depart-
ments.

It is Walter Haines again who remembers the important place the bicycle held
in the lives of early Harveyites.

"At the turn of the century," he recalls, "the village board let a contract
to Joseph Bloodgood, early contractor and one-time police magistrate, to pave
or gravel the east-west streets north of 147th Street as far as Halsted Street.
This included Clinton, Jefferson, Desplaines, Union Avenues, Calumet Boule-
vard and 147th Street.

"These streets were soon to become the scene of some of the community's
most stirring and interesting contests — the bicycle races.

"Using Flewelling's corner (147th and Halsted Streets) as the starting
point, outstanding riders competed over courses of five and ten miles, for
prizes donated by local merchants.

"From that point they pedaled east to Clinton, north to Calumet Boule-
vard, west to Halsted Street and .back to the starting point, a distance of one
and a quarter miles. The five-mile race required of course, four trips around
the course, and the ten-mile event double that number."

23

Mr. Haines credits Bill Ferguson, who became known as one of the area's
outstanding all-around athletes, with being Harvey's finest cyclist and a con-
sistent winner in the races.

Ferguson's prowess became widely recognized and he was a regular entry
in Midwestern race competitions. Whether he was a winner or not goes un-
recorded, but he was often at the starting line in marathon races in Chicago.
The races, twenty miles in length, were usually held on July 4th, beginning on
Michigan Avenue in Chicago's Loop and ending at the Florence Hotel in
Pullman, an establishment erected by George Pullman of railroad car fame.

There were others besides Ferguson who ranked as outstanding riders,
however, and listed as having more than ordinary ability are: John Barnings,
Roy Babcock, Charles Ellingsworth, Phillip Haines, Lee Flanders, George
Woodward, Charles Ferguson, Arthur Haines, Ira Hague, Chance and Everett
Onyon, Harry Brashares, Everett Isaacs, Tony Barnings, Bill Phillips, Grant
Summerville, Henry Becker, Roy and Kenneth Beers, Walter Stevens and
Richard Schoof.

"The last race of record," Mr. Haines recalls, "was in 1904."

24

FROM THE MEMOIRS

OF SOME

EARLY RESIDENTS

25

26

154TH STREET LOOKING WEST FROM PARK AVENUE - EARLY 1900'S

THE HOWLAND BUILDING IN THE EARLY 1900'S. IT IS STILL OCCUPIED BY THE OLIVER
DRUG STORE.

27

By the Late SAM BARKWILL

(As Written in 1940)

I was born on a farm 3 miles north of Goodwin, S.D., on May 23, 1883. I
came to Harvey from Leeds, N.D. with my parents, arriving here at 10 o'clock
in the evening of December 8, 1893.

Harvey at that time was famous for two things. It was known far and wide
for its mud roads and board walks and also as a strictly prohibition town.

Park Avenue at that early date was a macadam road from 155th Street to
153rd Street with a flagstone curb. I recall tripping over that curb into a puddle
of muddy water before I reached the sidewalk after getting off the train.

There were also a few blocks of macadam road on 155th Street from Park
Avenue west. The balance of the streets were paved with good old Harvey mud.

The business section was located on Park Avenue (now Broadway) and
154th Street to Center Avenue and so in memory I take a tour of Harvey as
it used to be.

McGilvray had a hardware store where the bus depot is now. The Moose
building was there as a three-store building with W. E. Kerr, undertaker, and
Mrs. Hill, millinery, as tenants. The Harvey Hotel was the Millison Hotel. Doc
Healy's Drug Store and Low's Pool Hall were two of the tenants.

From Columbia Avenue to Center Avenue the following buildings are
standing, occupied by the Home Liquor Store, then Howland Dry Goods, the
D. H. Hilbish Hardware Store, then J. W. Oliver's Drug Store. The rest were
one-story frame buildings to the alley, one occupied by Osser and Ewing, tailors;
Henry Becker's shoe repair shop, all replaced by the Eagle Store. Jackson's
Drug Store was a frame building which is still there, used at one time by the
Salvation Army and the home of our first moving picture show operated by
Mr. Weeks, general admission five cents.

The Thompson block replaced one story frame buildings.

Next came the Devoe Shoe Store on the main floor with Judge Devoe's
court room in the basement, which reminds me that the Harvey jail at that time
was a small red building, built of 2 x 6's nailed together flat for extra strength.
It was located in the alley where the Safeway garage is today.

The next building, the present R. & S. Shoe Store, was occupied by E. E.
Craver, Grocery and Bakery. The current Bastar's Jewelry Store was then a
two-story frame building, occupied by C. S. Armington, plumber.

The corner building was occupied then by W. L. A. Wiedemann, ice cream
parlor and school supplies, and later by the post office.

The Walton block housed John Eichelberger, shoes and clothing, with Wal-
ton's Photo Studio upstairs. Across the corner in the Stevenson block were Dan
Rivers' wallpaper and paint store, downstiars, and G. A. and B. T. Stevenson,
doctor and dentist, upstairs.

Traveling east on the south side of 154th Street, the next half block had
one building occupied in 1940 by the Thornton Relief office. Swift's Dry Goods
store was in this building.

Merry-go-rounds and three-ring circuses were staged on the vacant lot now
occupied by Oliver's, the Harvey News Agency and the Bank of Harvey. An
old two-story frame building used for a tin shop by William Green was where
the Harvey Federal is now located.

The city offices were on the top floor of a two-story frame building, oc-
cupied later by the Dixie Dairy Co. The only negro in Harvey at that time had
a barber shop on the first floor. Later the building was occupied by the tin

28

shop of Billy Green whose home on Center Avenue was dismantled a few
years ago. The ground is used for a parking lot now.

Returning to 154th Street, east of the alley the buildings from the Harvey
Federal building to Broadway were all there except the Edgar building. The
corner was occupied by the Bank of Harvey, Beebee had a hand laundry in
the basement of the next building west. Dr. Braley pulled teeth on the main
floor. Miller Cleaners, a barber shop and liquor store are in the building now.
Pearson's Barber Shop, with Matt Dawson in charge, was next door. Dr. Alva
Craver's dental parlor was above.

On the corner of Broadway and 154th Street was a wooden tower topped
b\ the fire bell which now is a cupola of the city hall.

West of Center Avenue on 154th Street to Turlington Avenue the south
side had one building, the home of "Ma and Pa Gaston," a family nationally
known because of their daughter Lucy, who was the leader of the Anti-
Cigarette League, and because "Pa" was the tallest man and had the largest
pair of feet of any man in these parts at that time. This building was torn
down a few weeks ago.

Across the street on the corner of Turlington was H. H. Mynard's real
estate office housed in a small frame building.

Braley and Bosworth's grocery was in the building at 151 East 154th Street.
147 East 154th Street now occupied by Hattie Geiman's store, and 153 East
154th Street by Putnam's store, were other old buildings in this half block.
These were all frame buildings and are still there with a new dress on the
exterior.

In the next block from Turlington Avenue to Lexington was one building,
the stucco front across the ten-cent store. The first tenant was the Salvation
Army, followed by the Holmes flour and feed store.

From Lexington to Loomis, the Baptist church on the corner and all the
dwelling houses west, including the Buehler Bakery, are the same as of 47
years ago. The corner now occupied by the Western Tire Company was a
vacant lot.

West of Loomis Avenue, at that early date, was out in the country. Homes
were few and far between. You could see open country beyond Western Avenue.

Some of the oldtime stores and factories of Harvey 47 years ago not men-
tioned in this story are those given below.

H. B. Veerhusen flour and feed store, located in a barn at the rear of
15234 Main Street, sold out to W. B. Thompson who moved to the corner of
Columbia Avenue and 153th Street and established what was later known as
the "Busy Corner."

Coffey C. Davidson's livery barn was east of the alley off Columbia Ave-
nue on 153rd Street, now the city yard. Across the street was Vincent's black-
smith shop. Both of these old-timers have been torn down.

At the corner of Columbia Avenue and 152nd Street was the John Beck
Coal yard, now occupied by dwelling houses.

The Wasau Lumber Company was located where the Buda employment
office and main entrance is. This firm moved to South Holland and is active-
ly doing business there.

Part of the buildings of the Enterprise Foundry and the Harvey Boiler
Works at Halsted and 156th Street are standing and are in the Whiting Foun-
dry today.

The Harvey car shops which were filled with old World's Fair Cars, used
by the I. C. R.R., and dismantled there, are a part of the Austin plant which
is now vacant.

29

The Bellair Stamping Works, which stood where Ingalls-Shepard is now,
burned down and was relocated in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The C. F. Craver Harvester Company at the east end of 155th Street and
Commercial Avenue was torn down several years ago. It is now a part of the
Bliss and Laughlin Company's vacant ground.

The Buda Company at the east end of 154th Street had three buildings
when it located here and they are still a part of Harvey's largest factory.

A. D. Heindel's grocery was located at 15412 Columbia Avenue. E. N.
Flewelling's grocery and meat market was at 15324 Columbia Avenue and
later moved into his own building on the southeast corner of Columbia Avenue
and 154th Street.

The Arthur Werner furniture store was located at 15205 Center Avenue.
J. Ellis' newstand was located on Columbia Avenue in the 153rd block. Bloom
and Veerhusen's grocery and meat store was at 15317 Columbia Avenue. Rior-
dan's hardware store was at 15319 Columbia Avenue. John Andrew's meat
market was at 15339 Center Avenue. The T. C. Martin Grocery Store was at
179 East 153rd Street and the family home was on the corner. The store is
being remodeled at the present time into a small apartment building.

AN EARLY STREETCAR

The three-story Harvey Land Association building, one of Harvey's oldest
landmarks, at 15432 Park Avenue, was used at that time for offices on the
main floor, lodge rooms on the second and public hall on the third. A great
number of home talent plays and traveling shows were held at this hall in the
early days.

At 15420 Park Avenue was the famous Goddard Restaurant, run by the
genial Mr. and Mrs. Goddard. The building was dismantled about three years
ago (1937).

The schools in Harvey, the Holmes school at Finch Avenue and 157th
Street (this part of Harvey was known as "Michigan" in the early days), the

30

Bryant school in North Harvey in the triangular piece of ground facing 147th
Street and bounded on the east by Vincennes Drive (this was one of the oldest
buildings in Harvey and was first used as a boys' academy). It was torn down
after the modern Bryant school was built. The Whittier school at Turlington
Avenue and 153rd Street was an eight room building, which also contained the
high school. This building burned down about 33 years ago and George Fair-
child acquired the red sandstone blocks of which the building was constructed
and built his home on the corner across the street. These sandstone blocks
were manufactured in a factory in West Harvey near the Ingalls-Shepard plant.

The Amanda Smith orphan home and school for colored children, located
on 147th Street east of Halsted, was one of Harvey's early institutions.

What is now the Arlington Hotel at Broadway and 155th Street was the
Bellaire House, located somewhere near Page Avenue and 147th Street.

Harvey in the early days had an electric street car line which discontinued
service sometime in 1893 because a young cyclone hit the car barn and wrecked
it and the cars. Profits were not large enough to replace the damages and in
order to hold the franchise, the company bought a horse car and horses.
Service continued until a Chicago company bought it and built a line from
Harvey to 63rd Street and South Park Avenue, Chicago. This was also
another novelty because the cars were operated on storage batteries. Later the
line was taken over by the Kankakee Interurban. Operation of the line was dis-
continued in 1927.

"I REMEMBER"

Written in 1940 on the occasion
of the city's 50th Anniversary

(By Fred A. Braley, Pasadena, Calif.)

We moved to Harvey in March, 1893, that famous old World's Fair year.
We built our home at 131 East 155th Street when about the only houses in the
neighborhood on that street were those of the McFarlanes, the Trevertons, the
Penwardens and Dr. Keifer. The old Methodist church was there, now the Odd
Fellows Hall.

As I remember it after these years, there also was the Oliver home and that
of Earl Lennox, which was between Loomis and Myrtle Avenue.

In 1894 G. F. Bosworth and I opened a grocery store near the corner of
Center Avenue and 154th Street. Later we moved to 153 East 154th Street,
having bought out George Putt, one of the first grocery stores in Harvey.

At that time the only paved street in Harvey was 155th from Park to Ash-
land Avenue. Sidewalks were all made of two-inch planks. They were con-
sidered very good. The main sewer was made of three-inch plank which was
later replaced with a good brick sewer.

The drainage ditch ran between the Illinois Central depot and the railroad.
Around 1905 the drainage ditch was dug.

31

BETTER TIMES IN OLDEN DAYS

As Recalled by Horace Holmes

In the spring of 1892 I was living with my parents and sisters on a farm
near Amity, Missouri. It was on a Sunday afternoon after we had returned
home from church and Sunday School and were reading the papers we re-
ceived there that my sister exclaimed, "Father, here is a new town, a temper-
ance town near Chicago. Let us go there — we will have better opportunities."

That was the beginning. We talked of little else until my father and sister
came to Harvey the following September, while I remained at home with my
mother to look after the farm. Father soon wrote to sell the farm and come
as soon as possible. Although only 15 years of age I harvested the crops, sold
everything and landed in Harvey with my mother the day after Christmas, 1892.

Walter Thomas Mills had his World's Fair hotel nearly completed and was
serving a turkey dinner that evening. My father took us there and what a
dinner and gathering. There were families from many states, fine friendly
folk attracted here from far and near because it was to be a temperance town,
with factories where men could earn good wages and where their children
could grow up surrounded by the best influences. So there gathered here a
sturdy people who were ready and willing to work, that Harvey might have
good schools, churches and factories. That is why Harvey is known today for
its excellent school system and many churches.

I remember well that first winter in Harvey. Professor F. L. Miller was
superintendent of schools and led a large choir in the Methodist Church which
was holding services in what is now the Odd Fellows Hall.

There were no theatres or picture shows to go to but I believe we had more
real enjoyable times than folks have today. There were dinners and social
gatherings at the churches where we played the old games, old and young
joining in. People had time to visit their neighbors, enjoying many evenings
in that manner.

It was a busy town with houses and stores being erected and men busy
laying wood sidewalks along muddy streets. Everyone worked six days a week
and went to church on Sunday both morning and evening.

When school closed in June, 1893, I secured work in a small store owned
by a Mr. Stratton who sold butter and eggs. I received 50 cents per day, $3.00 a
week, a lot of money then for a boy of 16. That fall Mr. Stratton rented the
first floor of what is now the Hercules building on 154th Street and added
flour, feed, hay and grain. I continued working for Mr. Stratton on Saturdays
and evenings while attending school.

By the summer of 1896 Harvey began to feel the pinch of the depression,
men were out of work and business was poor. Mr. Stratton sold out to his
competitor, W. B. Thompson, whose store was at 153rd Street and Broadway.
My father and I immediately thereafter opened a flour and feed store under
the name of Holmes and Son in the building vacated by Mr. Stratton. I
worked and continued in high school which was held on the second floor of j
the Whittier school building at the corner of Turlington Avenue and 153rd
Street. Professor J. E. Cable was principal and Professor F. L. Miller taught
some classes. The entire high school had their seats in one large room and the!
day began by either Professor Miller or Professor Cable reading a passage of I
Scripture and giving a short talk to the school.

One of Professor Cable's favorite texts was "He that controlleth his spirit
is greater than he that taketh a city." He would then enlarge on the advantage:
to one to always hold one's self in control. We young folk often joked about

32

these talks but I was sure thev helped manv others as they helped me.

Through my business with the Bank of Harvey, I became acquainted with
W. H. Miller who had organized the bank early in 1891. One day after I had
graduated from high school Mr. Miller asked me if I would like to learn the
banking business. So it was on August 7, 1898, I started as a clerk in the bank
and in about two years was elected assistant cashier, which position I held
until I had completed the organization of the First National Bank of Dolton,
which was opened on May 20, 1907. In this year also the First National Bank
of Harvey was organized by W. L. A. Wiedemann and his cousin, David
Wiedemann.

Some business men and people thought Mr. Miller hard to approach but
those who really knew him valued his advice and counsel.

Mr. Miller took an active part in organizing Thornton Township High
School which graduated its first class in 1899. It was his farsightedness and
tenacity of purpose which located the high school on its present site, instead
of placing it on a few lots.

Also in the early days of Harvey it was Mr. Miller who called together
some of the business men and insisted that Harvey should take advantage of
the offer made by Andrew Carnegie to give a library to the towns that would
vote a one mill tax for the maintainence of one. Harvey got the library and
Mr. Miller was president of the first library board.

The years at the beginning of this century were active and exciting years in
Harvey. The cold winter night on which the large factory known as the Bell-
aire Stamping Works burned will ever be remembered by those who were
there. This was a severe blow for Harvey but soon thereafter the Ingalls-Shep-
ard plant was located on that site. Another never-to-be-forgotten event was the
burning of the Whittier school building at the northeast corner of Turlington
Avenue and 153rd Street. W. D. Rogers was then president of the school board
and I was its secretary.

We set to work immediately to build a new and much larger school building,
the present Whittier. There were many board sessions which lasted far into
the night *and many hot discussions.

Here I wish to pay tribute to the loyal and farsighted work performed on
those early school boards by Charles F. Craver, Dr. G. A. Stevenson, W. D.
Rogers and James Pettigrew, each of whom served several years as president of
the board of education for District 152, and to such capable women as Mrs.
Myra Dunning, Mrs. G. A. Mahon, Mrs. F. A. Osgood and Mrs. L. K. Hins-
dale.

In some respects I believe Harvey suffered more from the depression which
ran its course from 1893 to 1900 than it did in the last depression, 1929. During
hese trying years the price of real estate declined in many instances 50 per
:ent and many Harvey people lost their homes. Many more lost faith in Har-
vey and moved elsewhere. There were, however, some who believed in Harvey
ind benefited thereby.

Noteable among these were W. B. Thompson, F. G. Howland, Dr. G. A.
Stevenson, W. H. Miller and H. H. Mynard. I recall a remark Mr. Mynard
nade when about 1900 he called at the bank and asked Mr. Miller for a $1200
oan on a Center Avenue house which he could buy for $2500. He said, "I
lave confidence in Harvey. Any city situated as Harvey is — with good
ransportation facilities near a great city, is sure to grow. Its growth may be
lelayed but you can't stop it."

Mr. Miller made the loan requested by Mr. Mynard and many others
vhich helped Harvey to grow again.

33

PETER BECK . . . AND
THE GASTON FAMILY

Having been founded as a temperance community, it was natural that
Harvey would attract people with rigid standards of human conduct, people
with deep religious convictions seeking a home where they could share their
philosophies with their neighbors.

And it was for this reason that John Beck, a coal merchant in the small
hamlet of Braidwood near Joliet, moved his family to Harvey.

His son, Peter, who was to become one of the city's leading merchants
over many years, recalled before his death, that his father "was attracted by an
advertisement to the effect that a coal dealer was wanted in a new and rapidly
growing temperance suburb of Chicago."

It appears that the senior Beck was fascinated by the fact that the deeds
to Harvey property contained the "prohibition" clause, and so in April, 1891,
he moved his family here.

Much of the "color" of the community's early years is available because
of the prolific pen and remarkable memory of Peter Beck.

"Quite a sight met our eyes," he recalled in a story written for the Harvey
Tribune on the occasion of the city's fiftieth anniversary in 1940.

"There were no trees, only a long stretch of open prairie, but elm and cotton-
wood saplings six or eight feet high had been planted row after row.

"The sound of hammer and saw was heard everywhere. Miles of wooden
sidewalks were being laid. A temporary box sewer had been laid in Center
Avenue to the Calumet river which, two years later, was followed by a brick
sewer seven feet in diameter from the Grand Trunk tracks north. A few cross
sewers were being laid and artesian wells had been bored and a water system
was being installed. A 50-volt electric lighting system was also being con-
structed and this was later to furnish power for a street car line that operated
only as far as West Harvey.

"Work was nearing completion on the Union Church at 155th Street and
Lexington Avenue. The church, inspired by Turlington W. Harvey, never
achieved the purpose for which it was intended and it was later sold to the
Methodist group in the community after having been used as a school."

The building is still standing and serves as headquarters for the Odd Fel-
lows Lodge.

Although Turlington W. Harvey's dream of a truly union church fell short
of attainment it did, however, accomplish something in this direction before
its disposal to other interests.

"'I recall," Peter Beck relates in his memoirs, "that Mr. Harvey believed in
mixing religion with business and on occasions brought to the town such
people as R. A. Torrey, a nationally-renowned evangelist; Ira B. Sankey, an
equally famous gospel singer; and Susan B. Anthony of woman's suffrage
fame."

Mr. Beck recalled that "because Harvey was the only temperance town in
the nation, because of its highly religious character (all businesses were closed
on Sundays and meals could be obtained only in private homes, or at the
Harvey House, a three-story frame building located just north of the Grand
Trunk tracks and east of the Illinois Central tracks on Morgan Street) it
brought to the community a peculiar and diversified lot of 'believers.' "

Perhaps the most famous of early Harvey's zealously religious families was
the Gastons, several members of this family later attaining international promi-
nence.

34

Alexander H. Gaston was a huge man, six feet, six inches tall and with
enormous feet. He walked with an ungainly gait and on the community's
wooden sidewalks "one could recognize his steps more than a block away."

Mrs. Gaston has been described as a "lovely, old-fashioned woman."

The introduction by Peter Beck of the Gaston family serves as a prelude
to a more detailed family history compiled in 1940 by Edward Page Gaston,
then of Washington, D.C.

Edward was to share considerable international fame with his crusading
sister, Lucy, a militant foe of whiskey and cigarettes, who carried her crusades
the length and breadth of the nation.

Alexander, head of the Gaston clan, was the "Johnny Appleseed" of the
town. From his early boyhood days in Ohio, Alexander was a horticulturist at
heart and he "was always planting seeds or seedlings," an avocation he pur-
sued upon his arrival here.

Mr. Gaston introduced to the community the "fruitful Russian mulberry"
which he extolled as good food for both human beings and birds." The com-
munity's large cottonwood population is also the result of introduction by him.

But it was Lucy Page Gaston who was to make the family name nationally
prominent. A reform worker, she fought the use of whiskey and tobacco with
equal vigor.

In his memoirs, Edward Gaston makes what is, so far as is known, the
only reference to the early appearance of whiskey in the temperance town
of Harvey.

"When Turlington Harvey founded our enterprising Chicago suburb, he
put a prohibitory clause in the title deeds, but the always arrogant brewing
and whiskey interests determined to break down such a dangerous precedent
by planting a saloon in the town," he chronicled.

In support of the militant Lucy, a Kenneth Beers, publisher of the city's
fledgling newspaper, the Harvey Citizen, carried on an editorial campaign in
support of her swashbuckling efforts to rid the town of the saloon menace.

"Led by my sister," Edward records, "a band of determined Harvey resi-
dents thereupon instituted a long line of prohibitory test cases in the Cook
County courts which attracted nationwide attention to Harvey as the 'little
ewe lamb of prohibition.' "

Credited also with having stood valiantly beside Lucy in the campaign
were Miss Jennie Farley, Rev. Milford Lyon, a Congregational minister, Peter
Beck, Alfred Miller and Arthur Holman.

Defeated in her crusade against the use of whiskey, Lucy turned her efforts
toward combatting the use of cigarettes on a national scale. She did much
local work in this direction and it is recalled by many that upon signing a
pledge to refrain from using cigarettes, they were rewarded with a lapel but-
ton, red with the letters "ACL" emblazoned on a white shield. She coined the
nationally known name of "coffin nails" for cigarettes.

Miss Gaston pursued a most fruitful life, one filled with excitement and
replete with honors. She was once named as a possible United States presi-
dential candidate. She cast such a wide influence that some of the states passed
anti-cigarette laws — testimony to the effectiveness of her lobbying and educa-
tional work in the field.

In recalling her death in Chicago in August, 1924, at the age of 65, her
respectful brother noted that she lived by the axiom, "No good cause is ever
lost until it is given up."

"Lucy Page Gaston was greater than anything she ever accomplished,"
Edward said in final tribute.

35

Edward Gaston himself attained international prominence, also as a re-
former.

Alexander Gaston joined the Prohibition Party upon its organization in
Chicago in 1869 and made frequent speeches in its behalf. Mrs. Gaston was
active. in the Women's Christian Temperance Union which survived in Harvey
for many years, although today it can be safely recorded the membership
roster contains names only of the deceased. At best, the organization, if it yet
exists, is inactive.

Edward Gaston took up the cudgel of prohibition even while his parents
were still active in the movement and in 1909, while living in London, England,
as European manager for the Funk and Wagnall Publishing House of New
York, he became the founder of the World Prohibition Federation which con-
tinues to operate effectively throughout the world. Its purpose is to end the
use of alcohol, opiates and other forms of narcotics.

Edward also recorded in his memoirs of 1940 that he was "national com-
mander of the Patriot Guard of America from the Washington, D.C. head-
quarters of which a constant stream of propaganda is issued against gambling
and immorality."

"My people," Edward concludes, "have tried to leave the world a little
better from having past this way, and the family association with Harvey has
always been one of special satisfaction to me."

"MICHIGAN"

Although Harvey is a closely-knit community today, certain areas during
the early days had individual designations. North Harvey and West Harvey
were almost separate entities, North Harvey at one stage of history having its
own government.

Similarly, the east side of the community was "A town unto itself" and be-
cause most of the settlers east of the Illinois Central Railroad migrated from
the State of Michigan, that was the name given to the area.

One of the first families that settled in "Michigan" was the Hulings, and
the early days of the city's eastern section was recalled some years ago by Mrs.
C. A. Huling:

Mr. Huling ordered lumber from the John Shilling yards in South Holland
to start the new home, but found the mud was too deep to have it hauled.
He decided to return to our home near Grand Rapids, Michigan until the
roads dried up enough to be navigable. When the house was roofed and en-
closed our two small boys and I arrived here.

There were sidewalks only on one side of most of the streets, except 154th
and 155th Streets. People living on the east side of the streets, which were the
ones without walks, had to lay boards down to cross over. These were soon
buried in mud, especially in the fall and winter, and had to be replaced often.

There were shade trees only along a few streets. I remember that in the
summer the hot west wind came over the prairie, parching lawns and gardens.

Our wells were mostly surface water. For drinking water we went to a farm
at 159th and Halsted Streets, about six blocks away, carrying it back. Deeper
wells were dug later and finally the city water came.

Later we had plenty of water in the way of floods. There was a deep ditch
on the west side of the Illinois Central at 157th Street and the station. When
this ditch overflowed in the first flood we had to cross it on a bridge. This

36

flood was in the World's Fair year of 1893. That year a boy was drowned
here.

The Methodist people rented the second floor of the French Hotel, at the
:orner of Columbia Avenue (now Broadway) and 154th Street. Rufus Ricker,
vho came here with the Craver Steel and Austin Company and was a brother-
n-law of Mr. Craver, was the first Sunday school superintendent.

Mr. Haines was one of the first grocery men on 154th Street. James
Smith, a young boy, rode his pony over to the east side and took our orders,
^ater Frank Gratton, now living on Turlington Avenue, came every morning
or orders which were delivered that afternoon.

The memorable flood came on June 2, 1902. Some of the larger boys
owed a boat in the streets at Columbia and Center Avenues. Many of the
vooden sidewalks floated away as did everything else that was loose.

Teachers who could not wade to their school buildings were obliged to
lire a hack from L. Davidson's livery.

Many people will remember the fringed top yellow painted surrey with
ts two lively horses driven by W. D. Rogers of the Harvey Land Association.

My husband helped in erecting the Bliss and Laughlin factory in 1891 and
vas its first engineer. The factory was the third in the United States to turn
»ut steel shafting.

THE GREAT FLOODS OF HISTORY

No history of the City of Harvey would be complete without recounting
he five serious floods which have occurred over the past 62 years, floods
/hich cumulatively created damage running into millions of dollars. Yet, Har-
ey's staunch population took each in stride, accepted personal losses, and as
tie floods faded into memory was able to recall with considerable humor, the
ghter sides of the tragedies.

There is, of course, a variance of opinions as to the city's most disastrous
loods. Those who formed the early population recall, with nostalgia, the
avages of the floods of 1892 and 1902 yet, despite their seriousness, these
loods pale in comparison with those of the modern days in terms of damage
reated and monetary loss.

It must be remembered first, that the number of residents, and therefore
le number of residences, industries and business establishments, were much
*wer in number and, comparatively speaking, the losses can hardly be measured
gainst those of the floods of 1947, 1954 and 1957, in spite of the fact that
le waters which descended upon the city may have been equal or even greater
l intensity in the earlier innundations.

Professor F. L. Miller, Harvey's first educator, is authority for the details
f the floods of 1892 and 1902 and upon the occasion of the city's Golden
ibilee in 1940 he described the reaction to the first "official" flood.

"I well remember the unpaved streets and the wooden sidewalks — and the
jiin. Upon arriving home from downtown it took several minutes to clean one's
loots. The rain in 1892 lasted 26 days in the month of May and 27 days in the
lonth of June. Not just light showers. It poured. I well remember on the last
ay of the session at the academy (where Mr. Miller was the principal) men
onned high boots and splashed through the water on the two-plank sidewalk
litween 154th and 147th Streets."

Mr. Miller's short account of that flood appears to be the only one avail-
pie but details are less sketchy about its successor ten years later, in 1902

37

154TH STREET DURING FLOOD OF 1902

when the population had increased considerably. There were more victims anal
therefore, more witnesses.

However, it is again Mr. Miller who provides some enlightenment on th<
1902 flood.

"That was some flood," the educator recalled.

"We stood in the middle of 154th Street and saw the water coming in fron]
the west and southwest (the exact course of the succeeding floods). Thj
water invasion continued until it became necessary to employ boats to do tin
family shopping. People were marooned in their houses for days."

Mr. Miller describes conditions following the recession of the waters.

"Behold," he exclaimed, "when the water was gone so were the woodei:
sidewalks, but this may have been a blessing in disguise for it heralded tbl
era of concrete sidewalks and paved streets."

Another unknown historian gives an even more vivid description of condij
tions.

"The worst flood the city ever experienced was on June 2, 1902 at whicl
time all the businesshouses on 154th Street were flooded with eighteen inchd
of water on the first floor and all the factories east of the Illinois Central railj
road were forced to close down because water rendered the power plant]
useless.

"At that time we had an open creek that ran from 159th Street paralk!
with the Illinois Central railroad to the Little Calumet River. Small ditches soutj
of 159th Street on each side of Park Avenue to Hazel Crest and Homewooj
provided some drainage.

"A ditch running southeast along 159th Street into Markham drained thai
area.

38

The question then, as it has been throughout the years, was how to stem
the onslaught of water descending on the city from the south and west.

The experiences of 1892 and 1902 led to the foundation in 1905 and 1906
of the Calumet Union Drainage District with William E. Kerr, then mayor of
the city, and A. R. Burkdoll, publisher of the Tribune Citizen newspaper, play-
ing major roles.

The system consisted of two major ditches, one known as the 161st Street
ditch which ran along the city's south boundary from the west and then east
to the Calumet river at a point in South Holland. The second ditch ran straight
down Robey Street to the Calumet river. The theory was that ditch number one
could handle the flow of water from the south and that on Robey the water
from the west.

It was believed that this would alleviate the problem of the community
which, at the time, had a single sewer line running down Center Avenue from
155th Street to the Calumet River.

Strangely enough, there is no record of flood conditions from 1902 until
1947, a period of 45 years, but from 1947 to 1957 the city experienced a series
of four floods that rank as disasters of more than average seriousness.

Property damage was tremendous but, as in the early days, the residents
took their losses and discomfiture stoically and upon the secession of the rains
set about the grim task of cleaning up.

Because the lack of previous experience by a vast majority of the populace
the flood of 1947 struck viciously and although resultant property damage was
estimated at $977,400, the actual loss might well have exceeded $1,000,000.

"In the memory of persons now considered pioneer residents," The Harvey
Tribune of April 10, 1947 reported, "this city has never undergone a like situ-
ation. Those who went to bed on Friday night hoping for a good pre-Easter
shopping day on the morrow, awoke to find it impossible to get farther away
from the living room than the front porch."

Only the northern area of the community escaped innundation because the
Grand Trunk tracks served as a dam that blocked the invasion.

"At times," the Tribune recorded, "159th Street was a raging torrent and in
the viaduct at the intersection of Park Avenue the water reached depths of
an estimated eight feet.

Business houses suffered losses impossible to accurately gauge. Despite
frantic efforts to stem the "tidal wave" by employing sand bag barriers the
Abater continued to mount and in many cases first floor salesrooms were under
#ater.

Easter, needless to say, was spoiled and the situation caused many local
:hurches to hold services the following Sunday.

The Calumet River, usually a quiet, meandering stream, became a raging
orrent, overflowing its banks in many areas. Water rose to within inches of
bridges crossing the stream at all points in the area.

City police and firemen played heroic roles and successfully removed
itranded townspeople from homes in the southwest area. Forty firemen and
wenty-seven policemen were on 24-hour duty.

By Tuesday morning the sewer system had been relieved of the strain and
nost basements had drained. Left in the wake of the water, however, were
.ludge-filled basements, more than three inches deep in many places, and the
■eal clean-up work began. Authorities estimated that more than six inches of
•ain had fallen in a 24-hour period.

The rains were to pay a return visit just 16 days more than a year later, on
Vfarch 19, 1948, although the intensity of the downpour was considerably less,

39

an estimated two and a quarter inches, and the damage amounted only to
$ 1 39,000, small compared with that of the year prior.

However, this served as an important era in the continuing fight against
floods and it set the stage for an improvement in the city's antiquated sewer
system. Citizens joined the city council in a cooperative effort to effect a
remedy and from this evolved a complete rehabilitation of the system.

Before this was to be achieved another disaster struck the city over a three-
day period from October 9 through 11 in 1954.

This proved to be the greatest disaster of all time for the City of Harvey,
damage totaling an estimated $1,038,190. The source of this city's trouble re-
mained the same — drainage from a huge area to the city's south and south-
west.

"Although many in Harvey felt the effects as early as Saturday night during
the torrential rains, it wasn't until Sunday morning when the water rolled re-
lentlessly in from neighboring communities and the 161st Street and Robey
Avenue ditches overflowed that the city felt the full brunt of the invasion," the
Harvey Tribune of the day recorded.

The water reached its high point on Monday morning and it wasn't until
late in the afternoon that a recession became noticeable.

In many residences the water poured through first floor windows. Water in
many residential areas measured three feet in depth.

Although the damage created was the worst ever, it could have been con-
siderably greater except for a citizenry that had learned what to do from
previous experiences. Many were able to save electrical appliances and other
valuable household facilities by moving them from the basement.

The community's business area was a shambles," the Tribune reported,
"and the frantic efforts of the merchants, fi^htinq against time to salvage their
merchandise, began late Saturday night. Employees summoned from their
homes donned boots and overalls to remove stocks to safety on upper levels."

Sump pumps were placed in operation and labored continuously for two full
days. Yet, through all the tragedy, the same stoicism was displayed by the
people. Boats, some powered by outboard motors, were a common scene in
some areas.

Studies, meanwhile, had continued on the rehabilitation of the city sewer
system and while the October flood was still fresh in the memory of everyone,
the city council under the administration of Mayor Arthur E. Turngren, called
an election on issuing $1,500,000 in general obligation bonds and $675,000 in
sewer revenue bonds to cover the cost of installation.

The people decided, at an election held on November 2, 1948, that the
proeram was worthy, and approved the huge expenditure by a vote of 4,712
to 2,719.

Contracts were let to two contractors on April 12, 1955 and work began
on the $2,175,000 project on August 22, 1955.

Although the rejuvenation of the system was city-wide, the more important
element of the project was the installation of two major sewer lines into which
the myriad of lateral lines fed. One of these, a 90-inch main serves the east
portion of the community, and another, 78 inches in diameter, serves the
west side.

It was emphasized by engineers that, despite the fervent hopes of the
people, this program would not completely eliminate the flooding problem. It
was only a partial solution, that would be of considerable help in alleviating
the extent of damage from floods, but was not a final remedy.

The predictions of these authorities was somewhat vindicated in 1957

40

when the community was to suffer its fourth flood in a decade.

That the new sewer system did what could be expected of it was the
opinion of experts following the torrential rains on July 13, 1957, yet there
was considerable damage and, in a sense, even more tragedy in this instance
than in the three previous floods of the period.

Eight inches of rain fell upon the area in a six-hour period, but in spite of
the severity of the downpour, damage was insignificant compared with the
1954 flood, or that in 1947. The city's southwest residential area was the most
seriously affected from the damage standpoint and the business area was almost
untouched. It was generally conceded that the new sewers had performed
nobly.

Perhaps the most tragic note in the disaster, was the need to evacuate a
number of patients from Ingalls Memorial hospital which, incidentally, was
undergoing a major expansion program at the time.

The hospital's power failed and in the interest of patient safety what
amounted to a mass evacuation was undertaken. Patients were transferred to
other area institutions, particularly St. Francis hospital in Blue Island and St.
James in Chicago Heights.

Many volunteered their assistance. The South Suburban Safeway Lines
provided a number of busses, the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company of-
fered the use of as many trucks as were needed. Ambulance services provided
the same assistance and the Illinois Bell Telephone Company threw its entire
resources into the task of restoring telephone service to handle the thousands of
calls from patients' relatives. A total of 138 patients were removed from the
institution.

The year 1957 and the installation of the new sewer system did not mark
the conclusion of the city's fight against the periodic invasion of flood waters,
and a Flood Control committee was formed, its membership including John
Bardwick. Jr., as chairman, Alan Eron, John Tilton, Burton Evans, James
Cushing, Allen J. Hamilton and A. Myron Lambert.

- United States Congressman William E. McVey was enlisted in the campaign
and his constant pressure in Washington, D.C. resulted in an appropriation of
$24,000 for a study of the ditches in the Calumet Union Drainage District, by
the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army.

The opinion of the day was that much of Harvey's problem would be
solved were the 161st Street and Robey Street ditches re-opened. (The open
ditches had been eliminated during the depression of the early 1930's, being
replaced by cement drain tile to provide work for the unemployed.)

Although the city had been assured the cooperation of other agencies that
would be involved in such a project (The State of Illinois, the County of Cook,
the Calumet Union Drainage District, Thornton Township, and the Village of
Hazelcrest) there was and still is an objector, the Villaee of South Holland. The
latter village reasoned that any heavier flow of water from the City of Harvey
through the drainage ditch on 161st Street would contribute heavily to intensi-
fying the problem at the Calumet River within the village limits.

Efforts currently are being expended in the direction of getting Federal
assistance in a program for widening and deepening of the Calumet River
channel.

In the year of 1962 little progress had been made in this direction although
the current United States Representative, Edward J. Derwinski of South
Holland, is actively seeking to get funds into the national budget for such a
program.

The result will form part of the history of the future.

41

THE HARVEY "DEAD LAND" PROBLEM

The mere fact that Harvey was originally regarded as a "boom" town, was
the direct cause in later years of a serious situation which, fortunately, wa;
rectified in time to permit a normal expansion of the community's population

The problem came in the form of "dead land," property upon which nc
taxes had been paid over a great period of years and upon which, of course
no homes could be erected because of the impossibility of securing clear title.

It will be recalled that in the early 1890's the Academy Addition in Nortr
Harvey was planned and established by Walter Thomas Mills, At the same
time the area known as West Harvey was planned and developed by A. G
Spaulding.

People from throughout the world were the buyers and North and Wesi
Harvey both enjoyed normal growth until about 1900 when on New Year';
Eve the factory known as the Bellaire Stamping Works burned to the ground
People were thrown out of work.

This catastrophe was followed by a nationwide financial panic, said to have
been one of the worst in United States history, and there was little work foi
anyone.

The situation marked the beginning of Harvey's delinquent property prob-
lem. From that point no taxes were paid on thousands of lots here and the
properties remained on the tax books for many years.

A man, whose name might best remain anonymous, saw the possibilities oi
a real estate "kill" and bought choice bits of property, paying taxes of aboui
$5.00 per year for three years. That gave him an equity of about $15 pei
lot and he received from Cook County a tax deed. He then recorded that deec
against the property and paid no further taxes.

In later years when people wanted to redeem or claim their properties, z
large fee would be charged them by the holder of the tax deed. In many cases
those seeking redemption felt the property was not worth the price.

North and West Harvey had a very small building program for over fifty
years until about ten years ago when the Harvey city council advertised and
sold delinquent special assessments against several thousand lots. Tax fore]
closure suits for delinquent general taxes were also published and sold ac-
cording to law.

A group of businessmen under the leadership of John Bardwick, Jr., orga-
nized in 1953 for the purpose of purchasing certain delinquent special assess-
ment bonds. The objective was to keep control of local properties in local hands.
It required an investment of $280,000.

Redemption suits followed by court order to clear the title on all delinquenl
taxes which required a long legal procedure. The building program in the City
of Harvey was at an absolute standstill until these lots were put on the market
and the subsequent growth of the City reflects the wisdom of the businessmen
involved.

An examination of the tax records from 1950 when these lots were still in
the tax delinquent stage, until today when many thousands of these previously
tax delinquent lots are back on the tax rolls, reveals the significance of the
efforts of the Harvey businessmen who risked personal funds to provide a basis
for the residential expansion of the community. Today there are few such tax-
burdened properties in existence.

Income for tax-supported agencies shows a tremendous gain over the years
preceding 1953 and this could only have been accomplished by the succeeding^
building program.

42

THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930's

The days and years following the crash of the stock market in October,
1929 were dark, both locally and nationally. Harvey, being an industrial com-
munity, suffered deeply during the trying period.

However, it was not until Monday, January 11, 1932 that the full impact
of the depression was felt — that was the day that both of its banking institu-
tions, the First National Bank of Harvey and the state-chartered Bank of
Harvey, closed doors that never were to be re-opened.

The momentous decisions of both boards of directors were made reluctantly
and simultaneously and were the direct result of a "run" during which more
than a quarter million dollars were withdrawn following bank closings in Ham-
mond, Indiana and Chicago Heights, Illinois.

The Bank of Harvey was closed by State Auditor Oscar Nelson at the re-
quest of the directors and a bank examiner from the office of the United
States Comptroller of Currency was placed in charge of the First National after
a similar request from its board.

Reason for the closings was announced as not lack of ability to meet reason-
able requests for currency withdrawals, but rather to conserve the assets of
the institutions for the protection of the remaining depositors. Each closed with
more than $75,000 cash on hand, and of course, other assets which were not
readily convertible into cash.

On a single day, prior to its closing, the First National met demands for
withdrawals totaling $40,000, forcing the institution to invoke the time demand
plan. Public fear created by bank runs at many outside locations merely ac-
centuated the concern of the depositors and added to the heavy demand for
savings. The situation forced the Bank of Harvey to adopt the same time de-
mand as its sister institution. Had the banks been able to withstand the on-
slaught caused by public hysteria, "the storm might have been weathered," The
Harvey Tribune of that day reported.

One of the warmer aspects of the tragedy was the confidence of a large
segment of the population in the executive departments of the banks, this confi-
dence reaching a point where at a mass meeting in the Harvey theatre on Janu-
ary 12, 1933 a huge crowd tendered a "rising vote of thanks" to the banks'
officers, including Dr. G. A. Stevenson, president of the Bank of Harvey, and
Fred G. Hudson, executive officer of the First National.

"There is dollar for dollar in each bank" it was announced to the crowd.
The sole criticism voiced was the rather complimentary one that "the officers
were too careful."

Not only townsmen but top level industrial and business representatives
rallied to the cause and pledged unswerving support for any feasible plan to
restore banking facilities to the community.

During the trying period the banks paid to depositors more than a million
dollars yet, collectively, they possessed more than $1,350,000 in assets when
their doors were closed.

Among the leading citizens who pledged their support to any plan that
would rectify the situation were Mayor Frank Bruggemann, Horace Holmes,
E. D. Mock, Carl Madory, James T. Wilkes, William E. McVey, William L.
Voss, General Thomas S. Hammond, Samuel M. Havens, James Scully, A. M.
Lambert, Sr., Charles H. Applegate, Jr., William L. Staton, Reverend Phillip
Furlong, Thomas Stobbs, Walter Haines, Henry Waldschmidt, Dr. W. H. Tup-
per, George F. Sutton, Einar Bloom, Reverend Frank Anderson.

Despite this display of unity and support, the First National Bank went

43

Typical scene during depression of the early 1930's

into the hands of receivers on February 2, 1932, after government auditors
had completed their work. Named receiver, by the Comptroller of the Currency
in Washington, D.C., was Harry E. Hallenbeck.

A month later almost to the day, on March 1, 1932 R. A. Pascoe, treasurer
of the Whiting Corporation and widely known here, was appointed receiver
for the Bank of Harvey. The reason given for his appointment was "to keep ex-;
penditures of liquidation to a minimum."

How devastating was the effect of the depression was demonstrated in
other avenues of community life. The Harvey Tribune of the day reported
that Thornton Township tax collections in 1932 for the year prior were only
one half of those billed. Collection, it was reported, totaled $555,000 against a
billing of $1,100,152.

In Harvey only 25 per cent of the $588,251 taxes billed was collected.
Financial chaos resulted, echoing throughout every facet of community life,
both private and public.

Gravely, the city council met and made the only decision possible — to re-i
trench, to pare expenses by cutting the wages of its employees from twenty to
twenty-five per cent, to reduce its annual budget of $100,000 to a more
realistic sum in view of the curtailed income. Layoffs followed, the city clerk's*
staff was forced to alternate in taking payless vacations of two weeks duration.
Economy was the order of the day.

A depleted treasury made it impossible to meet wage demands, but city
services had to be continued. Paper scrip became the wage medium, and those
who received it in lieu of cash were forced to peddle it where they could. Some
merchants accepted it for a time — until they too had all scrip and no money.

City employees stood before the city hall at license time, seeking to trade,

44

their scrip to the purchaser for cash, this scrip being accepted by the city in
lieu of cash.

The program of economy went so far as to force the council to economize
on the electric current which supplied the street lighting system. Bulbs were
reduced in candlepower and street illumination was curtailed — light being
provided only from dusk until 1 A.M.

The "dive of the dollar" is probably best explained by the Harvey Tribune
advertisements of the day — Boneless Rolled Rib Roast, 14 cents per pound;
Sugar Cured Hams, 11 cents per pound; T-Bone Steaks, 19 cents per pound.
As this history is recorded these same items sell for 98 cents, 60 cents and
$1.05 per pound, respectively.

Every strata of community life felt the effects, the schools being a similarly
shattered victim.

Here the need for retrenchment became equally important. In March 1932
boards of education, at the point of dismay but helpless, could find no money
in sight to pay their teachers. The immediate obstacle was hurdled when the
Austin Company, of which William G. Morse was an executive officer, bought
the school districts' tax anticipation warrants in an undisclosed amount. The
situation became more critical as months passed and the schools, like the city
itself, were forced to the use of scrip instead of money. Needless to say, every
other educational expense was reduced to a minimum.

During the 1931-32 school year the board of education was forced to re-
duce its budget from $125,000 to $90,000, salaries being reduced from 10 to
20 per cent. In October of 1932 the board reluctantly announced that it had no
funds with which to pay the teachers and an appeal was issued to the public to
buy tax anticipation warrants. With the proceeds of the sale the district was
able to pay its teachers for a time with half cash and half of the warrants, but
even this method finally reached a saturation point and the board found itself
$20,000 short.

Efforts were made to interest the public in buying up more of the warrants
and subsequently $12,500 was raised by this means. Schools were able to stay
open until the Christmas holidays in 1932. With $400,000 in tax money due,
the board found it impossible to carry on and it was announced that the
schools would be closed on December 23rd. They remained closed until
January 30, 1933.

The same problems faced the Thornton Township high school district and
in June, 1933, the board of education approved reducing the school term from
10 to nine months.

Every phase of community life was affected by the gradual decline in
business and the suffering which followed was particularly acute in Harvey,
whose population depended on the constant operation of its industries.

Each month saw a decline in employment and in early 1932 it became
necessary to find some means to provide relief for the needy. A Harvey Relief
organization was formed and funds for its operation sought from industry, pro-
fessional people, businessmen and others whose personal funds had not been
seriously depleted.

As demands for assistance increased, the difficulty in raising relief funds
became more pronounced and it became necessary to trim relief allotments.

In January 1932 the relief organization had received 1,300 applications for
assistance and it was announced that 780 families in the immediate area were
receiving relief. At the peak of the depression this number was to mount to
more than one half of the population. It was estimated that two-thirds of the
people were without work.

45

The first optimistic notes were struck in late 1932 when it was announced
by the receiver that the Bank of Harvey had resources of $1,019,994 with only
$734,965 due creditors. At Christmas the two closed banks were able to release
$150,000 in dividends.

In July 1933, the Harvey Tribune reported "Better Times Heralded at
Factories," and it was from this point that a gradual improvement in general
conditions was to be observed.

Industrial leaders were unanimously optimistic and declared the "long four
year slump here is ended." The Whiting Corporation reported orders "not
large but more numerous" and announced it had called its draftsmen back to
work.

The Austin Company reported "operations pretty good with lots of orders
in sight."

Bliss and Laughlin, Inc. declared "Orders diversified, working force sub-
stantially increased, the pickup since May is sound and all former employees
working full time."

Management at the Ingalls-Shepard division of the Wyman-Gordon Com-
pany said it was "well satisfied with business" and the Allied Steel Castings
added the comment that "business is pretty good."

In August, 1933, an important announcement said that Perfection Gear
Company, a Chicago firm, was leasing the factory of the bankrupt S. Ward
Hamilton Company and that it would move into the plant in October. The
news that many Harvey people would be employed by the company served
as a stimulant to local optimism.

In September, 1933 it was announced that relief cases had dropped more
than 50 per cent, and the community appeared to have fought its way back to
solvency.

46

GOVERNMENT

"The government is the strongest
of which every man feels himself
a part "

Thomas Jefferson

47

48

THE CITY HALL IN THE EARLY DAYS

Even the earliest documents fail to include in detail the early history of
larvey government and it is again the memoirs of William D. Rogers which
urnish the only details.

Even the Rogers legacy fails in specifics, but he has recorded that the first
lection was held in Harvey on April 12, 1890 on the proposition of whether
rhe community was to be incorporated as a village. Apparently, the proposition
massed.

A year of historical vacuum follows, but Mr. Rogers picks up the story on
une II, 1891 when Peter B. Lamb was elected the first village president of
iarvey.

Total number of votes cast at that election was 148, the small number being
i ccounted for by the fact that most residents were actually ineligible to vote
•ecause of their recent arrival. The law then, as now, required that to vote one
must have been in the State of Illinois for one year, in Cook County 90 days,
nd in the precinct 30 days. The law disqualified, perhaps, a greater portion of
[he population.

Elected with President Lamb as Harvey's first board of trustees were:
ijeorge L. Wilcox, Fred J. Greiner, George W. Stiles, John W. Kerr, Charles E.
toward, and Fred J. Colly.

First official meeting of the community's first governmental body was held
•n Thursday evening, June 18, 1891.

49

Harvey continued to function as a village until April 15, 1895 when by a
vote of 256 for and 175 against, its status was changed to that of a city.
In the first election as a city and in an election which followed on May
25, 1895, Jonathan Mathews was named mayor. The first members of the
board of trustees serving with Mayor Mathews were: Charles H. Applegate,
C. W. Ranger, John DeGraff, J. G. Hutton, J. B. Kirk, David Resser, F. W.
Reeser, F. W. Kissell and C. A. Dean.

Succeeding mayors and trustees who served the city until the next govern-
mental change was effected in 1912, when on April 16, the commission form
of government was approved at referendum by a vote of 872 for and 499
against, were:

June 18, 1891 April 24, 1892

Peter B. Lamb, President
Trustees
Geo. L. Wilcox Chas. E. Howard

Geo. Stiles F. J. Colbey

J. W. Kerr Fred Greiner

April 25, 1892 April 30, 1893

Thomas McFarlane, President
Trustees
F. S. Benthy Jacob Ott

F. E. Smith B. D. King

A. L. Hott G. W. Vance

May 1, 1893 June 2, 1894

Peter B. Lamb, President

Trustees

W. H. Garner Alfred C. Coover

A. L. Hott Geo. W. Vance

Michael Hanley Henry M. Scott

May 1, 1894 June 2, 1895

H. C. Riordan, President

Trustees

Clark W. Ranger Geo. W. Vance

W. B. Thompson W. H. Gardner

Michael Hanley Henry M. Scott

The following men held office as Mayor and Council members of the
City of Harvey:

June 3, 1895 April 30, 1896

Jonothan Mathews, Mayor
Aldermen
C. H. Applegate J. B. Kirk

C. W. Ranger David Reeser

John DeGraff F. W. Kissell

J. G. Hutton C. A. Dean

May 1, 1896 April 30, 1897

Jonothan Mathews, Mayor

Aldermen

50

Harry D. Sweeney A. Wait

C. W. Ranger W. M. Jones

J. G. Hutton J. B. Kirk

C. A. Dean John DeGraff

May 1, 1897 April 30, 1898
Clark W. Ranger, Mayor
Aldermen

Allen G. Pierce E. H. Winternute

A. Wait R. H. Foot

D. L. Williams W. M. Jones
Harry D. Sweeney C. H. West

May 1, 1898 April 30, 1899

Clark W. Ranger, Mayor
Aldermen

Geo. J. Monckton E. N. Flewelling

John A. Swett D. McCluskey

Allen G. Pierce E. H. Winternute

D. T. Williams C. H. West

May 1, 1899 April 30, 1900
F. A. Braley, Mayor
Aldermen

Frederick Geiss Geo. S. Freeman

D. T. Williams George Salkeld

Geo. J. Monckton E. N. Flewelling

T. D. McCluskey John A. Swett

May 1, 1900 April 30, 1901

F. A. Braley, Mayor
Aldermen

Geo. J. Monckton E. N. Flewelling

John A. Swett A. B. Merritt

Frederick Geiss Geo. S. Freeman

Geo. Salkeld David T. Williams

On July 2, 1900 a 5th Ward was created — Aldermen elected were
William Felgman and Joseph C. Carter.

May 1, 1901 Aug. 31, 1901
F. G. Howland, Mayor
Aldermen

J. W. Bennett William Stein

D. T. Williams T. Talbot

Joseph Carter E. N. Flewelling

Geo. J. Monckton A. B. Merritt

William Felgman John A. Swett

F. G. Howland, Mayor, resigned Sept. 2, 1901. J. W. Bennett, Alder-
man, resigned in November, 1901. Joseph Carter, Alderman, resigned in
November 1901.

51

Sept. 2, 1901 Nov. 22, 1902
E. N. Flewelling, Mayor
Aldermen

William Stein D. T. Williams

T. Talbot E. N. Flewelling

G. J. Monckton A. B. Merritt

Wm. Felgman John A. Swett

Nov. 23, 1901 April 30, 1902

E. N. Flewelling, Mayor
Aldermen
G. E. Tompkins Caleb A. Rank

G. J. Monckton William Stein

John A. Swett D. T. Wliliams

A. B. Merritt T. Talbot

William Felgman

May 1, 1902 April 30, 1903

E. N. Flewelling, Mayor

Aldermen

G. J. Monckton F. E. Stevenson

E. T. Osgood F. W. Dragula
O. F. Tucker G. E. Tompkins
William Stein D. T. Williams
T. Talbot Caleb A. Rank

May 1, 1903 April 21, 1904
C. W. Ranger, Mayor
Aldermen

Geo. L. Holler W. G. Eddy

A. W. Campbell J. H. McKee

C. W. Stevens Geo. J. Monckton

F. E. Stevenson E. T. Osgood

F. W. Dragula Orvin T. Tucker

C. W. Ranger, Mayor, resigned Aug. 29, 1904.

April 21, 1904 April 30, 1904
W. G. Eddy, Acting Mayor
Aldermen

Geo. L. Holler W. G. Eddy

A. W. Campbell J. H. McKee

C. W. Stevens Geo. J. Monckton

F. E. Stevenson E. T. Osgood

F. W. Dragula Orvin F. Tucker

May 4, 1904 Aug. 31, 1904

W. G. Eddy, Acting Mayor
Aldermen

L. Shepard F. E. Stevenson

E. T. Osgood F. W. Dragula

Ervin Cranson Geo. L. Holler

A. W. Campbell J. H. McKee

C. W. Stevens W. G. Eddy

52

Sept. 1, 1904 April 30, 1905

A. W. Campbell, Mayor
Aldermen
L. Shepard F. E. Stevenson

E. T. Osgood F. W. Dragula

Ervin Cranson Geo. L. Holler

J. H. McKee G. W. Stevens

W. G. Eddy

May 1,

1905 April 30
W. E. Kerr, Mayor
Aldermen

, 1906

W. H. Hutton

Anton Werner

J. C. Lawrence

David B. Reeser

Fulton Cassler

E. T. Osgood

F. E. Stevenson

Ervin Cranson

L. Shepard

F. W. Dragula

E. T. Osgood resigned as Alderman

July 3, 1905.

May 1,

1906 April 30
W. E. Kerr, Mayor
Aldermen

, 1907

H. D. Sweeney

F. E. Stevenson

James Powers

F. W. Dragula

Henry C. Hart

W. H. Hutton

Anton Werner

J. C. Lawrence

David B. Reeser

F. L. Cassler

May 1,

1907 April 30

, 1908

E.

N. Flewelling, Mayc
Aldermen

r

H. W. Carpenter

Geo. J. Monckton

J. C. Lawrence

Chas. W. Batt

C. H. Bloodgood

Harry Sweeney

F. W. Stevenson

James Powers

Fred W. Dragula

Henry C. Hart

May 1

, 1908 July 6,

1908

E

N. Flewelling, Mayor

Aldermen

H. D. Sweeney

John G. Dale

James Powers

J. D. McLarty

Nelson Martin

H. W. Carpenter

G. J. Monckton

J. C. Lawrence

C. W. Batt

C. H. Bloodgood

July 6,

1908 April 30,
W. E. Kerr, Mayor
Aldermen

1909

H. D. Sweeney

John G. Dale

James Powers

J. D. McLarty

Nelson Martin

H. W. Carpenter

G. J. Monckton

J. C. Lawrence

C. W. Batt

C. H. Bloodgood

53

May 1,

1909 April 30,

1910

E

. M.

Adams, Mayor
Aldermen

W. L. Egleston

Geo. Sidel

A. M. Parish

Willis A. Bangs

Jos. Haines

H. D. Sweeney

John G. Dale

James Powers

J. D. Mc Larty

Nelson Martin

J. D. McLarty,

Alderman, resigned

Feb. 21, 1910.

May 1,

1910 April 30:

, 1911

E

:. m.

Adams, Mayor
Aldermen

C. E. Lyons

J. C. Ellis

James Pettigrew

Chas. W. Batt

C. E. Swan

Willis L. Egleston

A. M. Parish

Geo. Sidel

Willis A. Bangs

Joseph Haines

May 1,

1911 April 30

, 1912

E

LM.

. Adams, Mayor
Aldermen

G. J. Monckton

A. M. Parish

F. W. Dragula

Joseph Haines

W. L. Egleston

C. E. Lyons

C J. Ellis

James Pettigrew

C. W. Batt

C. E. Swan

Joseph Haines, Alderman, resigned March 18, 1912.

May 1, 1912 April 30, 1913
E. M. Adams, Mayor
Aldermen

C. E. Lyons H. C. Ellis

Jas. Pettigrew Emil M. Datham

R. C. Schreiber Walter Haines

W. L. Egleston G. J. Monckton

A. M. Parish F. W. Dragula

THE COMMISSION FORM OF GOVERNMENT

When the electorate approved changing the type of government from the
mayor-alderman form to that of a mayor and four councilmen on April 16,
1912, it subsequently bestowed the honor of heading that type of government
on George H. Gibson.

That he was equal to the responsibility is demonstrated by the numerous
improvements in the phsyical aspects of the community made during his ad-
ministration.

It is important to note that Mr. Gibson won the distinction of being the
first mayor in the State of Illinois to function under the commission form of
government inasmuch as Harvey was the first city to adopt the infant system.

54

Generally regarded as an "experiment" it eventually vindicated itself under
the expert guidance of George Gibson and history records that "the system
is now an established fact, that the 'Harvey Way' stands out pre-eminently as
an example to other cities."

That the system is successful is indicated by the scores of. cities which, since
1912, have adopted similar systems.

The form of government was to remain unquestioned until 1958, during
the administration of Arthur E. Turngren, when a segment of the population
sought a return to the aldermanic form, the same type of government that
existed when the city was founded.

There appeared to be considerable basis for the arguments propounded by
the advocates of the change, that the various areas of the community were as-
sured of more localized representation with aldermen representing each of 14
wards, just as in the early days.

Petitions by the advocates of the change, having been properly filed with
the city council, an election was held on November 4, 1958. The commission
form of government survived, however, being retained on a vote of 4323 to
3219.

George H. Gibson served first a two year term from May 1, 1913 to April
30, 1915, then was re-elected to a full four-year term from May 1, 1915 to
April 30, 1919.

Serving with him as commissioners of city departments were: (1913-1915)
H. W. Carpenter, Frank Isenberger, Walter Haines and George A. Mahan:
(1915-1919) H. W. Carpenter, George A. Mahan, Walter Haines and Albert
G. Foster.

It is significant to note that while there was considerable turnover in the
makeup of the councils of early years, that turnover has not been so marked in
the years since. Although 49 years have passed since the commission form of
government was adopted, the city has been served by only five mayors. Matt
Stobbs served two terms; Frank W. Bruggemann, four terms; Charles H. Apple-
gate, a portion of Mayor Bruggeman's term upon his death in January, 1942;
Arthur E. Turngren, four terms; and William B. Kane, incumbent mayor who
took office on May 1, 1959.

After Mr. Gibson, the mayors, the lengths of their terms and the men who
comprised their respective councils are as follows:

May 1, 1919 April 30, 1923

Matt Stobbs, Mayor

Commissioners

J. Clyde Ellis Harry G. Foltz

Geo. A. Mahan Bert Timmons

May 1, 1923 April 30, 1927

Matt Stobbs, Mayor

Commissioners

Harry G. Foltz Fred Fowler

Walter Haines William L. Voss

May 1, 1927 April 30, 1931

Frank W. Bruggemann, Mayor

Commissioners

Edward Anderson James A. Bates

J. Clyde Ellis Ray T. Spencer

55

May 1, 1931 April 30, 1935

Frank W. Bruggemann, Mayor
Commissioners
Einar B. Bloom Everett J. Harris

J. W. Chapman William L. Voss

May 1, 1935 April 30, 1939

Frank W. Bruggemann, Mayor
Commissioners
Arthur E. Turngren George Fisher

Norman C. Gallett Chas. H. Applegate

May 1, 1939 Jan. 10, 1942

Frank W. Bruggemann, Mayor
Commissioners
Chas. H. Applegate, Jr. Arthur E. Turngren

Norman C. Gallett Einar B. Bloom

Jan. 10, 1942 April 30, 1943

Charles H. Applegate, Jr., Acting Mayor
Commissioners
Arthur E. Turngren Norman C. Gallett

Einar B. Bloom

May i, 1943 April 30, 1951

Arthur E. Turngren, Mayor
Commissioners
William E. Powers Einar B. Bloom

Norman C. Gallett Burton Evans

May 1, 1951 April 30, 1955

Arthur E. Turngren, Mayor
Commissioners
George D. Gilley Einar B. Bloom

Wm. A. McLaren Burton Evans

May 1, 1955 April 30, 1955

Arthur E. Turngren, Mayor
Commissioners
Arthur E. Christian George D. Gilley

William A. McLaren Harold Wetmore

May 1, 1959 April 30, 1963

William B. Kane, Mayor
Commissioners
George Dennis William B. Schau

John Abraham Harold Wetmore

56

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN HARVEY

Under the commission form of government the mayor is president of the
council and presides at its meetings. He supervises all departments and reports
to the council for its action on all matters requiring attention in any department.
The commissioner, accounts and finance, is vice-president of the council and in
case of a vacancy in the office of mayor or the absence or inability of the
mayor performs the duties of mayor. The council and its members possess all
executive, administrative and legislative powers. These powers are distributed
among the following departments:

1. Department of Public Affairs

2. Department of Accounts and Finance

3. Department of Public Health and Safety

4. Department of Streets and Public Improvements

5. Department of Public Property

Members of the council are elected at large (not wards) for four-year
terms. They must be qualified electors of the city; have resided here at least
one year prior to their election; and must not have been defaulters to the city,
nor have been convicted of crime in the Illinois courts. The salary of the
council members is $900 per year; $1,200 per year for the mayor. The mayor
also receives a salary of $900 per year as liquor commissioner and each council
member $600 per year as member of the Board of Local Improvements. In ad-
dition to the mayor and council, the office of police magistrate is elective.

The council appoints the city clerk, city treasurer, corporation counsel,
health officer, city engineer, chief of police, fire chief, superintendent of
streets and water departments, building inspector and electrical and plumbing
inspectors.

The Board of Local Improvements has the power to levy special assessments
or special taxes for local improvement.

The mayor and council name a firm of accountants for the annual audit, the
Civil Service Commission, a Board of Zoning, Library Board and Planning
Commission.

The city clerk, under the supervision of the city council, prepares the an-
nual budget which is approved by the city council as a whole; no one member
of the council is the budget making authority.

A number of governmental bodies other than the city regulate various
aspects of community life. The Harvey Park district operates independently as
do the separately elected school boards. Harvey also lies in two townships,
Thornton and Bremen, which regulate other phases of civic activities. For in-
stance, general welfare assistance is largely administered by the townships as
well as tax assessments and collection, and the construction and maintenance
of certain roads. The county government also has powers in the conduct of
elections, tax assessment and collection, public welfare, courts, and certain
health and zoning regulations. School districts operate under the general super-
vision of the county superintendent of schools. The South Cook County
Mosquito Abatement District, and Suburban Tuberculosis District provide
services for which Harvey people pay a property tax.

The State of Illinois actually prescribes what we may or may not do as a
city and the maximum tax that may be levied for specific governmental pur-
poses. In addition, the state enters into the areas of public health and welfare
and highways, and it exercises some further authority over schools.

57

Sources of municipal revenue include the property tax, sales tax, business
licenses, fines, and vehicle tax.

In connection with municipal indebtedness, the issuance of general obliga-
tion bonds must be submitted to the voters. The city debt limit is two and one-
half per cent of the last known assessed valuation. This limitation does not ap-
ply to certain public improvements. Revenue bonds may be issued without
submission to voters; the latter are payable from receipts of public enterprises.
School district debt limit is five per cent of assessed valuation. State law pro-
vides that the electors may petition for a change in the form of local govern-
ment subject to approval by a majority of the voters.

As regards governmental personnel, administration, most state, county and
local employees are under civil service law which sets forth job qualifications,
methods of hiring and dismissal, and promotion requirements. However, there
are some positions which do not have civil service protection and are on a
patronage basis.

An essential of a good personnel system is an adequate classification pro-
gram which includes desirable recruiting standards, a pay plan based upon
merit and ability, and good employee relations.

MEMBERS OF ONE OF HARVEY'S EARLY POLICE DEPARTMENTS. SEATED LEFT TO RIGHT,
CHARLES McMANNIS, JAMES BATES, GEORGE GORE. STANDING ARE HENRY WEBER AND
GEORGE SWANSON

58

HARVEY'S FIRST MOTORIZED FIRE TRUCK.

CHIEFS OF POLICE

Between 1891 and 1894 the city was served by a constabulary but city
archives do not reveal who held these positions. From that point to the present
the following have served as chiefs of police:

Ralph Lane 1894-1895

M. G. Alexander 1895- 1897

James Bates 1897-1907

John Stout 1907- 1911

George Whyler 1911 - 1919

James Tomlinson 1919- 1921

George Swanson 1921 - 1927

Everett Harris 1927-1929

George Swanson 1929- 1939

Albert Roll 1939- 1951

Matt Romer 1951 - (present chief)

FIRE MARSHALS

Frank Bartle 1891 - 1892

John Ott 1892-1916

Adam Bouk 1916- 1918

Jacob Fletcher 1918-1923

John Hough 1923-1927

59

Charles Madsen 1934-1943

Fred Hoffman 1943-1947

Carl Stanger 1947-1955

Edward Mulder 1955 - (present

marshal)

CITY ATTORNEYS

Daniel Reamer 1891 - 1892

George E. Stowe 1892-1892

Frederic Hebard 1892- 1893

George E. Stowe 1893- 1894

Charles P. Huey 1894- 1895

Frank Stobbs 1895- 1903

Thomas C. Stobbs 1903 - 1907

Frederic R. De Young 1907-1919

Louis H. Geiman 1919-1921

Thomas C. Stobbs 1921 - 1927

Frank E. Foster 1927- 1931

John T. Whitehead 1931-1935

Harry A. Lambert 1935- 1938

William F. Donahue 1938-1939

Harry A Lambert 1939-1943

Herbert C. Berggren 1943 - 1959

Edwin A. McGowan 1959-

POLICE MAGISTRATES

Samuel A. Harris 1896-1900

Joseph C. Bloodgood 1900-1908

Jesse D. Coale 1908- 1912

James A. Bates 1912-1919

Henry I. Heckler 1919-1927

Charles H. Applegate 1927-1931

Joseph S. Flaherty 1931 - 1939

Herbert C. Berggren 1939-1943

William B. Kane 1943-1947

Neil E. VanderVeen 1947-1951

William B. Kane 1951 - 1959

Harry A. Lambert 1959- 1962

Ronald A. Crane 1962-

CITY CLERKS

C. T. McKee 1891-1892

D. H. McGilvray 1892- 1894

F. W. Gage 1894-1896

A. G. Coover 1896-1901

R. E. Colerick 1901 - 1913

J. A. Alten 1913 . 1927

F. C. Norton 1927-1951

Bertha A Genovese July to September, 1951

Robert K. Bentley 1 95 1 to present

60

Public Library, Harvey, Jll.

PUBLIC LIBRARY, HARVEY, ILL.

HARVEY PUBLIC LIBRARY

Harvey's first library was founded in 1898 with the formation of the Harvey
Library Association, a subscription organization whose members paid dues of
[5 cents a year for the privilege of borrowing books.

Fo'unders were Prof. F. L. Miller, Miss Georgia Mynard, Mrs. C. J. McKee
nd Miss Myrtle Lister.

Iln February, 1903, the city council established a library and reading room
y ordinance and appointed a board of directors consisting of Prof. Miller,
ilex Dennison, W. H. Miller, J. C. Bloodgood, Dr. G. A. Stevenson, O. J.
ads and R. E. Colerick.

The board eventually contacted Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish philanthropist
ho had subsidized hundreds of libraries throughout the world from his
ibulous fortune.

One of the Carnegie requests was that the city provide a site and this the
Dard did, acquiring the property at 155th Street and Turlington Avenue where
lie library still stands. Mr. Carnegie approved a bequest of $12,500 after the

ity had acquired the site, cost of which was underwritten by voluntary sub-
.riptions and by an allotment from the city.

Contract for construction of the building was let on July 17, 1905 for
1,672. Mr. Carnegie promptly increased his grant to $13,500 to help meet
nforeseen construction costs. The structure was dedicated in May, 1906 with
lore than 2,500 volumes lining its shelves.

President of the board at that time was Dr. G. A. Stevenson and its mem-
;rs included the Messers. Eddy, Daniels, DeYoung, Werner, Rundle, Thomp-
»n and Burkdoll. The librarian was Edith E. Schmelzel. Although he had re-
'ed from the board, Prof. Miller maintained an active interest in the library's
aeration and helped increase its services over the next 25 years.

61

Like other public institutions, the library had its trying moments during the
Depression of the 1930's, but it stayed alive, eventually recovered and then
moved steadily forward.

There are several interesting sidelights in the library's history, one of these
in 1911 when the board decreed "that all books which have been in homes where
there are contagious diseases must be returned to the library for burning and
families having them must provide replacements."

In 1931, under the leadership of Mrs. Ethel Zimmerman, the board of
directors established a children's library and since there has been a remarkable
growth in the use of library facilities by the younger generation.

Many leading residents contributed their talents toward building a success-
ful library operation. These include, beside the founding group, Frank Trott,
Mrs. Wilbur Day and Mrs. James Scully.

As librarian, Miss Schmelzel has been succeeded by Estella Ellis, Mrs. Sam
Daniels, Marcia Broek, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Hazel Wegener, the present
librarian.

The growth of the library in terms of both usage and books has been im-
pressive. From its original 2,500 volumes in 1906 the library now possesses
50,000. Access through the local library to the limitless resources of the Illinois
State Library is also available. A mobile service is provided for patients at
Ingalls Memorial hospital.

In addition to Harvey residents who use the facilities there are more than
800 non-residents who take advantage of them. The annual circulation of
books today is in excess of 150,000, an average per citizen of 4.5 books an-
nually, far above the national figure.

The library has had many benefactors during the years, the most important
being the Harvey Woman's Club, the Harvey Junior Woman's Club, the
American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary.

HARVEY PARK DISTRICT

In another chapter is recorded the details of the founding of the Harvey
park system during the administration of George H. Gibson.

From that point until 1946 when a Harvey Park District was formed by
affirmation of the voters, the affairs of the park system were administered by
the city council.

Establishment of the district necessitated the election of a Board of Com-
missioners and William Hayes was the president of the first board. Members
were Charles Boese, Joseph Marek, Norman Broderick and Bert Krogh.

Mr. Marek and Mr. Krogh are still members of that board.

Upon the resignation of Mr. Hayes as president in 1952 Charles Boese was;
elected to the presidency and continued to serve until 1962 when he resigned
and moved from the city. Mrs. Freda Sweet, who succeeded Norman Broderick
on the board, currently serves as president.

Other present day board members are Mrs. Genevieve Cherry, elected in
1959, and Les Duncan, who was appointed a member upon the resignation of
Mr. Boese.

Some idea of the growth of the district is indicated in its expanded holdings.
Although its original jurisdiction was only over Harmon Park at 149th Street
and Broadway, it now administers the affairs of 17 neighborhood parks located
in every area of the city.

The district has traditionally operated on a minimum budget. That for th£
current year adopted in September, 1962, is $60,500.

62

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE ADMINISTRATIONS
OF MAYORS AND CITY COUNCILS UNDER
THE COMMISSION FORM OF GOVERNMENT

GEORGE H. GIBSON

(1913-1919)

Although Harvey's early officials had done much for their community (and
historical evidence of their accomplishments will be found elsewhere in this
dcoument) the modern city as it is known today began to take definite form
immediately after the adoption of the commission form of government. And it
was George H. Gibson and his dedicated council members who laid much of
the foundation upon which the city's future was erected.

The achievements are legion and include such improvements as the in-
stallation of a new fire alarm system, the motorizing of the fire department
and remodeling of the city hall.

The Gibson administration was successful in equalizing the price of gas to
conform with the heat units of the same commodity. It fought what was con-
sidered an unwarranted increase demanded by the Harvey Light and Water
Company, charging violation of contract. A successful campaign for lower
electric light rates was staged and although a similar campaign, with the goal
of having a viaduct constructed at Halsted Street and the Indiana Harbor Belt
Railroad to relieve congestion caused by switching locomotives, was staged,
this represented an unattained objective. The same situation exists today.

A Park Committee, the forebear of the present Harvey Park Board, was
named by Mayor Gibson and its efforts resulted in the acquisition of a square
block, site of today's Harmon Park, bounded by Broadway and Main Streets
and 148th and 149th Streets. The site, records reveal, was obtained without
cost to the city, except for improvements.

All of the city's alleys were widened as were many of the city streets. Halsted
Street and Park Avenue were transformed from unimproved to cement
thoroughfares. The groundwork was laid also for widening 147th Street, a
project accomplished several years later.

Fourteen blocks of sewers were installed and plans formulated for more.

An ordinance was passed and contracts let for the elevation of the Illinois
Central tracks from the Grand Trunk railroad south to the city limits and
extending into the railroad's Markham Yards north of Homewood.

Mayor Gibson's administration is credited with having successfully pre-
served attractive railroad fare rates although carriers were increasing these
rates to neighboring communities. It is credited also with having preserved at-
tractive telephone rates.

Biographers cite Mr. Gibson as "having dedicated" the name of Harvey
upon the records of war fame in Washington, DC. Because of his ceaseless
efforts the city became famed as the 250 per cent city (because of its oversub-
scribing the purchase of Liberty Bonds) during the first great World War.
Hartford, Connecticut is reported as the only other city in America with a
record that approached that of Harvey.

The memoirs of Mr. Gibson provide much material concerning the city's
development and contain the details which led to the adoption of the commis-
sion form of government under which he was to serve as the first mayor.

Mr. Gibson, however, takes little personal credit for the change. Rather, he

63

credited the Hon. Frederic R. De Young, who still ranks as Harvey's greatest
contribution to the profession of law.

It was Mr. De Young, Mr. Gibson related, who as a member of the House
of Representatives of the State of Illinois, introduced and successfully pursued
until adopted, a law permitting communities to adopt the new form of govern-
ment that had its birth in Galveston, Texas.

"The commission form of government," Mr. Gibson noted, "was discussed
nationally following the terrible Galveston flood and designed to accomplish the
rebirth of that city. Ordinary political processes were unadaptable. The move-
ment spread, found favor, and the commission form of government was
adopted by many progressive communities."

It was during the Gibson administration, too, that the ground work was
laid for the multi-million dollar water system owned by the Harvey of today.

Mr. Gibson recalled that "existing law bound the City of Chicago to furnish
water at the city limits to outlying territory immediately adjacent to it.

"In the case of Harvey some three miles stretched between its limits and
that of Chicago. We were not in the 'immediately adjacent class.' Harvey,
however, applied and it was once again that our good friend, city attorney and
state representative, Frederic R. DeYoung, who came to the rescue of his
community."

The Hon. Mr. DeYoung was able to secure the legislation needed to force
Chicago to furnish water to communities not only adjacent but contiguous to it,
and at the same prices as were charged the customers in that city.

"Mains were laid immediately, Harvey was connected to the City of Chi-
cago's water system and the most potent threat of water famine here was ended.
And just in time, for the artesian wells that had been supplying the water were
rapidly nearing the point of exhaustion. At the same time, there was a noticeable
upgrading in the quality of the water because of the chemical treatment it re-
ceived at the water cribs in Lake Michigan."

Mr. Gibson also provides for this history detailed information concerning
the establishment of a park system.

"Harvey was without the vestige of a park, and again it was Frederic De-
Young who came to the rescue.

Harvey's north side real estate was burdened with large numbers of public
improvement bonds which had been issued for payment on wooden sidewalks,
long since decayed or floated away. Many of the bonds were in default, a great
hindrance to the free interchange of real estate in the city.

"An unidentified holder of a large parcel of blighted property and Frederic
DeYoung entered into an arrangement whereby in consideration of the release
of liability occasioned by the defaulted bonds, and the vacation of a part of a
street (149th) the owner deeded over the property to the city free of charge."
As has been heretofore stated, this is the site of what is now Harmon Park.

Although Mr. Gibson would have named the park after his friend and the
city benefactor, Frederic R. DeYoung, this was not to be. It became known as
Harmon Park after the city had been awarded a $2000 prize in 1924 by the
Harmon Foundation as the "best community in which to raise a family." In
gratitude for the gift, the city named its park in his honor.

THE STOBBS ADMINISTRATION

(1919- 1927)
A brief return to the administration of George H. Gibson is necessary as

64

background for the events which led to the election of Matthew Stobbs and a
complete new city council in 1919.

It will be recalled that Mr. Gibson assumed office in 1915 and before the
next election in 1919 the nation had become involved in World War I. This
conflict resulted in many necessary public works retrenchments. An edict by
President Woodrow Wilson was scrupulously observed by Mayor Gibson and
a halt was called to local public improvements of all kinds in cooperation with
the all-out war effort. Proposed street, sewer and water extension projects
were among those which were halted while efforts were diverted to selling
War Bonds.

It is ironic, indeed, that this display of patriotism was what led, in 1919, to
the ousting of the Gibson administration and the emergence of a new council
led by Matthew Stobbs.

The plot to upset the Gibson council was hatched one month before the
filing period in the Schultz and Stobbs cigar store.

Walter Haines, who was to go down in defeat with the Gibson council, in-
sists that details of the coup were planned by the cigar store proprietors, Matt
Stobbs and August Schultz, Joe Bloodgood, George Woodward, Fred Fowler,
Harry Foltz and Lonnie Kraay. Strategy called for attacking the Gibson group
as a "Do nothing council," an attack which left the latter helpless in view of its
adherence to the government's demand for financial austerity.

A ticket was formed consisting of Matt Stobbs for mayor and Harry G.
Foltz, George Mahan, Bert Timmons and Joseph Clyde Ellis for commissioners.
Actually, the group was interested mainly in creating a contest and held little
hope of defeating the popular Mr. Gibson. Mahan, a member of the Gibson
council, bolted the incumbents after receiving a letter from Mayor Gibson
suggesting he retire from public life because of his age. He used the contents
of the letter strategically as campaign material — and it proved a wise political
move because Mahan topped the voting for the victorious Stobbs combine.

What^was accomplished by the Stobbs regime in its first term from 1919 to
1923 has not been documented, but he was re-elected for another term, as
were two of his councilmen, Fred Fowler and Harry Foltz. Walter Haines
returned to the council after a four-year absence and William L. Voss, Sr. was
elected as the fourth commissioner.

The lack of public improvements over a long period led to a public clamor
for paved streets, more adequate sewers, and water line extensions.

The council acceded, the first sizeable improvement being the paving of
157th Street from Commercial Avenue to Halsted Street, and all those streets
running south from 157th Street to 159th Street from Commercial to Halsted.
Sewer improvements and water extensions and street paving were effected
on Ashland and Marshfield Avenues from Spaulding Avenue to 154th Street.

Next came paving, water and sewer improvements in West Harvey and in
North Harvey, all of the work petitioned for by the residents who, it is said,
*vere happy until the receipt of the special assessment tax bills.

An extension to bring water from Chicago to Harvey was installed and the
:ity's first water reservoir constructed, a reservoir which is in use today.

Another community improvement during the Stobbs administration was
he construction of the swimming pool at 149th Street and Broadway at a
:ost of $17,000.

The Stobbs administration had its troubles, however, and at a meeting on
Vlay 17. 1926, a petition containing more than 1,500 signatures was presented
o the city clerk, John Alten, asking the recall of Mayor Stobbs and Com-
nissioners Foltz, Fowler, Haines and Voss.

65

The petition, originated by R. O. Livers, John Dzeidzina, Julius R. Meyer
and I. Z. Hague, asked that the books of account of the City of Harvey be made
available to auditors for the purpose of audit.

This forced the council to appear in Superior court but, through the efforts
of Thomas Stobbs who served as counsel for the group, the suit was dismissed
by Judge Barnes on the premise that the petition was not properly drawn and
contained fraudulent signatures. The hearing lasted 30 minutes.

However, this merely intensified the anger of the citizenry and numerous
meetings rallying around the slogan "throw the rascals out" led to one of the
most heated election campaigns in Harvey history.

Commissioner Haines recalls that he and the other members of the Stobbs
administration staged a tremendous parade about two weeks prior to the elec-
tion. Hundreds of paraders marched through every area of the community leav-
ing the sponsors with what were to become false hopes for success.

When the votes had been counted the "Clean Sweep" ticket organized by
Frank W. Bruggemann had accomplished its objective and "threw the rascals
out".

"The Four Horsemen," as the Stobbs council came to be known, not too
affectionately, had taken their "last ride".

THE BRUGGEMANN ADMINISTRATION

(1927- 1943)

One of the most colorful of Harvey's mayors and a personality whose
political influence was widely acknowledged was Frank W. Bruggemann, elected
first on the "Clean Sweep" ticket in April, 1927, and re-elected in 1931, 1935
and 1939.

His last term was interrupted, however, by his death on January 11, 1942
and the then Commissioner of Finance, Charles H. Applegate, Jr., was named
by the city council to fill the vacancy.

Mr. Bruggemann was mayor during what was perhaps the most trying
period in the city's history, the Depression of the early 1930's, when Harvey,
an industrial community, was severely affected.

Unemployment was high, tax collections were low and the local government
suffered immeasurably because of the lack of income. The normal government
services were necessarily curtailed, some eliminated entirely. City employees,
in lieu of cash were required to accept scrip, the monetary value of which was
limited and as a medium of exchange it was next to valueless. Later, these
public servants received portions of their stipends in the form of tax anticipa-
tion warrants. Both of these exchange mediums represented city obligations that
had to be redeemed at a later date. The practice of using scrip was eventually
ruled illegal by a Federal court.

Frank Bruggemann was born in Chicago on October 27, 1892, came to
Harvey in 1912 and died here on January 1 1, 1942.

From his arrival here until his death he played an active role in civic life.
He and Pearl Kerr Vedder, the daughter of William E. Kerr, one of the city's
most prominent citizens, a mayor in the early years and Harvey's first under-
taker, were married in October, 1915. Upon the death of Mr. Kerr he carried
on the W. E. Kerr funeral business.

It was the Bruggemann forces which conducted probably the "hottest"
political campaign in the city's history. With Joseph Clyde Ellis, James A.
Bates, Edward Anderson and Ray T. Spencer he formed the "Clean Sweep"

66

ticket, and the election proved the name was no misnomer, every member of
the Matt Stobbs administration being swept out of office.

So, too, were those holding appointive positions eliminated. The city hall
lad an entirely new look with Fred Cj. Hudson as treasurer, Frank E. Foster
.is attorney, Paul Robinson as engineer, Everett Harris as chief of police, and
Frank C. Norton as clerk.

After an uneventful four-year term in the course of which the depression
lad set in. Frank Bruggemann was again elected mayor. New members of the
:ouncil were Einar Bloom, Everett Harris, Joseph W. Chapman and William
L. Voss, Sr.

With the depression at its height a program of public improvements be-
:ame impossible until Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president of the United
States, asked that local works projects be set up to provide work for the un-
employed which were increasing in alarming numbers. Under the plan the
Federal government was to contribute a large portion of the money and the
nunicipalities the balance.

This formed the background for the inauguration of a project which be-
:ame the subject of much controversy in the years to follow.

Years before, the Calumet Union Drainage Ditch had been created to
.tern the flow of water from areas southwest of Harvey which, on occasion,
nnundated the city. A deep, open ditch was dug along 161st Street west to
*obey Avenue where another ditch was dug which ran directly north to the
Zalumet river.

A plan was devised to place huge tile in the open ditches and cover it with
;arth. Mayor Bruggemann, Commissioner William Voss, Sr. and Walter
•iaines met with District Congressman Edward J. Kelly at Forest Park and the
:ongressman subsequently presented the plan to the government authorities,
-larvey's project was approved by the Works Progress Administration which
upervised similar projects throughout the nation.

The Whiting Corporation foundry was closed at the time and arrangements
vere made to use it for casting the huge tile that were needed. Men were
provided with jobs there and others set to cleaning the ditches to prepare
or the laying of the tile.

The first roadblock encountered as the work progressed came when several
mndred men were sent from Chicago to engage in the local work. It was Mayor
Jruggemann and Commissioner Voss who protested violently on the basis that
he jobs here should be filled by local people. They won their point and the
Thicagoans were withdrawn.

Under terms of the project the city was to furnish certain tools and equip-
nent and when possible these were bought from local merchants.

Legend has it that several persons prominent in the Bruggemann cam-
paigns were incensed when they failed to receive appointments to various
public positions and banded together to cause the administration considerable
mbarrassment.

Inferring that there was some dishonesty in the purchasing negotiations, the
| roup appealed to the United States government and Federal agents were sent
here to investigate the purchases of wheelbarrows, shovels, and much other
quipment being used on the job. The plot blew up when documents were pro-
duced to show the purchases had been made locally at near the merchants' cost
nd that the transactions were legal.

At any rate, the project took about a year to complete, although the WPA
/orkers were required to vacate the Whiting foundry when the company re-
amed its operations.

67

Despite the allegations of his enemies, Frank Bruggemann was extremely
popular. His efforts to keep the local banks open during the depression runs
and his efforts to keep the city on a sound financial basis by rigid economies
were, perhaps, not completely successful and there was much suffering.

However, as the depression ran its course and as conditions became gradu-
ally better local projects were resumed on a limited scale. Additional streets
were paved and both the sewer and water systems were extended.

The confidence of the people in Mayor Bruggemann was expressed once
again at the polls when he was re-elected for a third term in 1935 when his
council was composed of Arthur E. Turngren, Charles Applegate, Jr., Norman
T. Gallett and George P. Fisher. Once again in 1939 he was re-elected, his
regime ending with his death on January 11, 1942.

It was during the Bruggemann administration that the purchase of the
Piazza building on Broadway was consummated in 1936. Bought for $20,000
it proved to be a wise investment. For many years and until it was destroyed by
fire, it housed the city fire department. The upstairs area was rented, first to the
Magic Chef (American Stove Co.) Club and then the Harvey Moose lodge at
a rental fee of $225 per month. The rent was applied on the purchase price and
it became unnecessary to ask for approval of a bond issue or make the payment
from current city funds.

The wisdom of the investment was vindicated following the disastrous fire
on January 9, 1958 which gutted the building. The city received an $85,000
settlement from the insurance company and the money was placed in a special
account for the erection of a new station at a later date, a project that was
begun during the administration of Arthur E. Turngren.

Perhaps it should be recalled that Frank Bruggemann was involved in the
closest election in the city's history. It was in 1935 when Einar B. Bloom, a
member of the city council challenged for the mayoralty and in the April elec-
tion he lost to his opponent by the small margin of 59 votes — 3,464 to 3,405.
The closeness of the election led to many theories on how it was won: However,
despite stories of "shenanigans" in the voting in one west side precinct, the
threat of a Bloom recount never materialized and the verdict stood.

Actually, his winning the mayorship was not Mr. Bruggemann's political
baptism. He had served as the city's treasurer from 1923 until 1927 when he
was first elected mayor. On the state level he served as president of the Illinois
Municipal League in 1937.

THE TURNGREN ADMINISTRATION

(1943- 1959)

Arthur E. Turngren's length of public service is exceeded by no other indi-
vidual in Harvey's history, twenty-four years overall, eight years a Commis-
sioner of Public Health and Safety, and sixteen years as mayor.

Mr. Turngren was to serve during this long tenure a community victimized!
by the depression of the early 1930's, and the revival of that community during!
the succeeding years of his service.

He was a witness to a community suffering from unemployment, from lowi
tax collections, from inability to meet its financial obligations to city workers.!
Yet, he was to witness also the rebirth of the community and he played anj
important part in its rehabilitation and its restoration to a thriving city during!
his sixteen years at the helm of its government.

As an active and dedicated member of the city council he participated in

68

he negotiations during the administration of Frank W. Bruggemann that re-
sulted in the purchase of the Piazza building at 15315 Broadway for the in-
iignificant sum of $20,01)0, and it was during Mr. Turngren's term as mayor
hat the debt on the building, bought at a fraction of its construction cost, was
iquidated and permitted removal of the city fire department from inadequate
quarters in the city hall.

The building was to serve well the purpose for which it was purchased
jntil January 9, 1958 when it was swept by one of the most sensational fires
n the city's history. The fire resulted from an explosion in an adjoining build-
ng which housed an automotive garage and salesroom and it spread with such
»reat rapidity that even with the help of fire departments from a number of
adjacent villages, it was gutted. This forced the removal of the fire department
:o temporary quarters in the Thorsen garage building at 15426 Broadway.
Certain fire-fighting equipment was also moved to a new fire station constructed
during the Turngren administration at 147th Street and Vincennes Road.

The second floor of the structure, rented to the Harvey Moose lodge, was
:ompletely destroyed and the structure reduced to a badly-damaged one-story
building. There was, however, no loss in equipment suffered because of the
prompt action by both regular and volunteer members of the fire department.

Plans were immediately set in motion to acquire a new centrally-located
lite for the department, with George E. Gilley, Commissioner of Public Health
ind Safety, heading the official committee entrusted with the responsibility.

After an adjustment of the loss by the company holding the insurance, the
:ity received $85,000 as a settlement and the fund was placed into a special
iccount to be used only for the erection of a new fire station.

Immediately the council went into negotiations which resulted in the pur-
:hase of a plot of ground at the southwest corner of 156th Street and Center
\venue on May 27, 1958 for $13,500.

Plans were drawn and specifications set for a new structure by E. Layton
"lanagan, a Harvey Architect. A contract was let on November 19, 1958 to
he Degenhart Construction Company for the construction of the building at a
>rice of $127,406, this to be paid for from the insurance on the fire loss, plus
:ity receipts from the state sales tax from which the city had begun to receive
ncome in August, 1955.

The proceeds from the sales tax had come to be an important source of
:ity income and had been used to liquidate outstanding tax anticipation war-
ants and to reduce levies normally assessed against real estate.

Before the conclusion of the Turngren administration the building was
learly complete, only some interior work and landscaping remaining to be done.

A decision was made to convert the burned-out fire station of Broadway
o a police station. Engineering studies indicated the building, despite its condi-
lion after the fire, was structurally sound, and a big clean-up job followed.
)ebris was removed, a new roof and front built. The building, however, was
tot completed and occupied until a later date.

Plans were inaugurated to purchase the property south of the building for
»ff-street parking, but the plans never materialized and eventually it was
•ought by the South Suburban Safeway Lines, Incorporated, and a bus garage
rected in 1961.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Turngren administration was the
xtension of the antiquated sewer system, a project approved by the voters.
)etails of the project are recorded in a preceding portion of this volume under
he heading "The Great Floods of History."

69

THE KANE ADMINISTRATION
(1959- )

Born in Chicago on December 31, 1912, William B. Kane, the present
mayor of the City of Harvey, was brought here by his parents in 1923 and the
greater part of his schooling was received in the local public schools.

A lawyer, he became interested in politics even before his graduation in
1948 from the DePaul University School of Law, where he attended evening,
classes.

While attending college he was active in municipal affairs and served as a
member of the Harvey Zoning Board of Appeals and the Harvey Planning
Commission.

A member of the Democratic party during his first years in politics, Kane
later became affiliated with the Republican party and today, besides being the
mayor of Harvey, he serves as the Republican Committeeman of Thornton
township.

His first elective office was that of police magistrate in Harvey to which
he was elected in 1943. Defeated by a small margin for the office in 1947, by
Neil Van Der Veen, he came back and won the office once more in 1951.

Mr. Kane was elected to the board of education of Thornton Township!
High School District 205 in 1950. In 1953 he was named president, succeed-i
ing Edwin Waterman, who retired. It was during Mr. Kane's term as president
that the new $6,000,000 Thornridge High School in Dolton was erected.

He resigned his school board presidency and membership when he decidedi
to seek the mayoralty of the city in 1958 in a contest against Arthur E.
Turngren.

The campaign leading up to the election on April 7, 1959 was intensej
and resulted in one of the closest elections in the city's history. The results fromi
the last precinct to report settled the issue and Kane was announced as the)
victor by a margin of 109 votes, the count being 4,459 to 4,360.

The Turngren forces carried their fight to the Chicago Board of Election
Commissioners which supervised all local elections and at a dramatic recount
in the Chicago city hall on April 17 the final count was determined to be
4,443 to 4,319 with Kane's official margin 124 votes.

Promising fiscal responsiblity the Kane administration during the first year
compiled a surplus of $90,949. A change in procedure called for an investment
program which saw city funds converted into short term government bonds.

Considerable city equipment was replaced, or modernized. Vehicle license
laws were revised to increase revenue from this source, stricter enforcement of
business license laws was accomplished and the Building Department fee col-
lection system was more closely supervised.

Several projects instituted during the Turngren administration were brought
to completion during the early months of the Kane regime. These included the
new fire station at 156th Street and Center Avenue which replaced the station
burned out in a fire in January, 1958.

The station contains the most modern equipment known in the fire fighting
and prevention field.

The Police department has also been housed in new headquarters which were
occupied by the Fire department prior to the fire which gutted the building on
Broadway.

This project was also inaugurated during the Turngren administration but]
not completed until funds were made available after the Kane administration!
took over. It is now a completely modern building, fully equipped with a new!

70

cell block, office files and furniture, offices, interrogation room, officers'
locker rooms, a new heating plant and everything needed for a smoothly
functioning department.

Other accomplishments of the administration include the adoption of new
food handling laws and a new law regulating the operation of taxicabs.

The city's water supply has been greatly augmented during the present ad-
ministration and although the population has grown steadily the increased de-
mand for water has been met. This was accomplished by the installation of a
24-inch main across the Calumet river which greatly improves the local supply.

Other water department improvements include a new emergency power
generator which takes over when the current from normal sources fails and a
new vacuum breaker pump which eliminates vacuums and head pressures.

Considerable improvement has also been effected in the Street department
which is as completely automated as possible. Both equipment and personnel
have been augmented to improve service, to the public. The new garbage
packers have been added to the department fleet, as has an eductor unit for
cleaning catch basins.

Every service offered by the Street department has been improved, includ-
ing ice control and snow removal.

Formerly housed in crowded quarters on 153rd Street, the Street depart-
ment now occupies a well-constructed brick building at 152nd and Wood
Streets which the city purchased from the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post
for $50,000.

In view of the fact that the 153rd Street building was sold to the South
Suburban Safeway Lines for use as a garage for the sum of $36,500 the pur-
chase of the VFW building appeared to be a worthwhile transaction.

The present council also negotiated for the sale for $80,000 of the city-
owned parking lot at the northeast corner of 153rd Street and Turlington
Avenue and the site now contains an imposing colonial-type structure occupied
by the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company.

The annexation of an area in the southern portion of the Village of Phoenix
was consummated during the present administration.

Among other improvements effected during the past three years was the
installation of a public comfort station in the city hall.

Despite an impressive list of civic improvements, the Kane administration
has had its trying moments. Perhaps the greatest crisis it has faced was occa-
sioned by the proposed purchase in 1962 of the Harvey Federal Savings and
Loan Association building at 182 East 154th Street as a replacement for the
now antiquated city hall.

Although it was generally conceded that the need for a new city hall ex-
isted sentiment as to the proposed purchase was varied. Many thought the price
attractive, others did not. Many were apprehensive over what they regarded as
the "speed" with which the negotiations were to be completed.

A Citizens' committee appointed by Mayor Kane recommended its purchase,
but a segment of the population was adamant in its opposition with the result
that the time limit for its purchase passed without action by the council which
was itself divided on the proposition.

A minor crisis developed late this year concerning the replacement of Police
Magistrate Harry A. Lambert who died before the expiration of his term. In
two separate actions the council first approved petitioning the Cook County
Judge to appoint an acting magistrate and then submitted a request to the
Cook County Board of Commissioners to fill the vacancy. The situation pro-
duced differences of opinion among the council members but it was finally

71

resolved with the appointment of a Harvey attorney, Ronald Crane, by the
Cook County board. Crane's term will conclude simultaneously with those oi
the city council members in the election of April, 1963.

72

HISTORY OF
EDUCATION

'Next in importance to freedom
and justice is popular education,
without which neither freedom
nor justice can be permanently
maintained."

■

James A. Garfield

73

74

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM

"If it is true that the character and culture of a community may be judged
by its schools, the people of Harvey must be acknowledged to be in the front
rank, of progressive American citizenship,'1 an unknown writer said many years
ago.

And that statement is even more applicable in the year 1962 than it was
when the above words were penned in 1900.

When Harvey was founded but one small school known as the "White
School House" stood within its boundaries. It had been erected in 1883 on the
east side of what is now Morgan Street between 151st and 152nd Streets.

The building and one teacher staff was sufficient to meet the educational
needs of the hamlet until the year of 1891-1892 when the enrollment leaped
spectacularly to 655 pupils. The community was faced with a grave problem.

It was then that Frank L. Miller was hired to reorganize the entire educa-
tional system.

Mr. Miller had arrived in Harvey to assume the superintendency of a two-
story frame school building at 147th Street and Vincennes Road. This was a
private academy founded by Water Thomas Mills, a developer of the Academy
addition to Harvey's north side. The Academy existed only for a short time,
being supplanted by Harvey high school.

But it was Mr. Miller who actually became the "father" of the Harvey
grade school system.

"I well remember," Mr. Miller wrote in 1940, "when I was re-organizing
the school system in the Fall of 1892. The year before the schools were under
a board of directors but the population of the district having reached 1,000, it
was entitled to a board of education which was elected in April of that year.
At the opening of the school year, owing to the great influx of people, it was
found necessary to postpone the election for a week so that registration of
pupils and their assignment to various store buildings in different parts of the
district might be made."

Thus the stage was set for the formation of a Harvey school district and
history indicates the first board of education ever elected consisted of the fol-
lowing citizens: C. F. Craver, president; Mrs. J. B. Ellis, Mrs. George B.
Mahan, Mrs. G. V. Anderson, Rufus Ricker, J. A. Prout and O. W. Stone,
members of the board. J. F. Seabright was elected secretary and, of course,
Mr. Miller, superintendent.

The first year of the reorganized school system was hectic, indeed. The
"White School House" housed the seventh and eighth grades, which were
taught by a Miss Margaret Cloney. The sixth grade was established in the
basement of the old Union Church building at 155th Street and Lexington
Avenue, now the Odd Fellows home. Other grades were placed in empty store
buildings stretching from 159th to 147th Streets. In some rooms a teacher
taught as many as three or four grades.

But this was only a temporary arrangement and in 1893 the district began
to take definite form with the construction of the old Whittier school at 153rd
Street and Turlington Avenue. This structure served not only as a grade but as
the Harvey high school which was abandoned in 1898 with the formation of
the Thornton Township high school district. However, three high school classes
— 1896, 1897 and 1898 were graduated from the Harvey High School.

The original faculty consisted of the following: J. E. Cable, principal of
the high school; Belle S. Porter, assistant principal; Margaret Cloney, eighth
grade; Elida M. Stannard, seventh grade; Mame Headworth, sixth grade; Phoebe

75

J. Cary, fifth grade; Isabel Lees, fourth grade; Delia M. Farley, third grade;
Francis M. Davis, second grade; Georgia Mynard and Alice J. Porter, first
grade.

The Whittier school served its purpose until September 1, 1906 when it was
destroyed by fire — just a week before the opening of the school term.

Because of the small site of the school, the board of education bought for
$6,000.00 a location for a new school at the corner of 152nd Street and
Loomis Avenue, site of the Whittier school of today. The structure was erected
at a cost of $35,000.00.

Professor Miller recalled in later years that some residents declared the
board of education "crazy to put the building so far out in the prairie."

As the need for additional school facilities continued to mount, it became
necessary to place additional buildings in the district.

Various historians are at odds as to the establishment of the Bryant school.
One records that the building which housed Walter Mills' private academy was
bought in 1894. Another says that a plot of ground was bought at 147th Street
and Vincennes Road and a building erected at a cost of $20,000.00.

Steps were also taken during 1894 for the establishment of a school on the
east side of the community, in that area which had come to be known as
"Michigan" because of the large numbers of residents there from that state.

The site chosen was at 158th Street and Finch Avenue and upon it rose
a two room frame building first called the Prout school after a member of the
board of education, but later named Holmes. The building served its purpose
until the 1950's when it was abandoned upon the erection of a new, modern
structure elsewhere in the district.

Early in 1895, in order to satisfy the increasing demand for school facili-
ties, necessary steps were taken to erect a four-room brick structure at 157th
Street and Lexington Avenue at a cost of $8,000.00. This was to become
known as the Lowell school — later to be renamed Lowell-Longfellow when
the site was increased in size and another building constructed.

In his memoirs, William D. Rogers, who was to become president of the
board of education in 1902, recalls some of the educational difficulties the
booming population created.

"Nearly all of the property in the school district was unimproved. The as-
sessed valuation being low, the income from taxes was very uncertain and the
bonds which were issued in order to get the funds with which to erect school
bulidings constituted an obligation the interest on which absorbed a large por-
tion of the revenue."

However, Mr. Rogers added, the Whittier building with its eight rooms, and
the Holmes (formerly the Prout) building of two rooms, the four rooms in the
Bryant school, together with other rooms which were rented for school pur-
poses, constituted the school properties for the first 10 years of the school
district.

In 1904 necessary steps were taken once more to add to the school facilities
and, under the presidency of Mr. Rogers, a new four-room building named the
Cary was erected on the site of the original Whittier school at 153rd Street and
Turlington Avenue.

Two years later, in 1906, growing pains continued to plague the board of
education and an effort to alleviate the trying situation was made by enlarging
the Bryant school to make it an eight-room building.

But the board's troubles were not over, for just before the opening of
school in September, 1906, a fire which destroyed the Whittier school, necessi-
tated the transfer of its students to the Bryant with the result that the building

76

was filled to capacity. Other students were quartered in temporary schools in
the Methodist and Presbyterian churches.

A year later the new Whittier school, to be pronounced by authorities as
the "best eight-room school in Cook County", was completed and ready for
occupancy. Funds for the project were available from the insurance on the
burned-out building.

There are some interesting sidelights to the early history of the Harvey
school system, these including the salaries of the teaching staff during the
early years.

One historical entry says "F. L. Miller was re-elected superintendent for
the comign year at a salary of $135 per month," It adds that the eighth grade
teachers received $65 per month; and the balance of the faculty, whatever
grade taught, was paid at the rate of $50 per month. Substitute teachers were
paid at the rate of $1.50 per day.

Included in the voluminous rules which governed both faculty and students
there were many of unusual interest. For example:

"Pupils are not allowed to do the following: carry firearms or other weapons,
use tobacco or chewing gum in or about the school building; injure, mark or
deface any part of building or furniture and shall pay in full for such damage;
write or use any obscene or profane language or make unnecessary noises;
jump on passing vehicles, throw snowballs or missiles of any kind on premises;
play truant; be habitually absent or tardy, be disrespectful, disobedient or in-
subordinate; enter building with muddy feet."

Teacher obligations included; "Devoting themselves diligently to their pro-
fession by reading educational periodicals, by conferences with other teachers,
attending teachers' meetings and in every way possible endeavor to prepare
themselves for the discharge of their duties; to care for the moral welfare of
their students; to give careful attention to ventilation and temperature of
room; to observe the habits of their pupils to fit them for citizenship by teach-
ing lessons of patriotism, honesty and temperance."

Early documents also record the spectacular growth of the student popula-
tion and the increase in faculty. Starting in 1891 with "one teacher and few
pupils" the student body had increased to 1,100 and the teaching staff to 23
by 1903. The school population thereafter remained somewhat stable and in
the subsequent 16 years the student body had grown only to 1,275 and the
teaching staff to 30.

This stability was evident for many years and it was not until the mid-
1950's that the community began again to outgrow its school facilities. This was
occasioned because of the upsurge in children of school age following the
conclusion of World War II.

Discussion of the seriousness of the problem had its beginning in Novem-
ber, 1951 when the board concluded that the tremendous increase in residential
building and the anticipated growth in school populations necessitated action
in the immediate future.

An exhaustive survey of existing facilities, curriculum needs to conform
with modern standards of education, school population, finance and programs
of the future, was undertaken.

In the course of its deliberations, the board of education sought assistance
and counsel from its administrative staff, educational figures in other com-
munities, architects, nationally-recognized school experts. Upon completion of
its survey it was presented to an advisory board of some 50 members selected
from the community at large and consisting of representatives of industry,

77

business and labor, as well as the community's civic organizations, parent-
teacher groups, city officials and real estate men.

"The purpose of all this effort," James T. Wilkes, then president of the
board of education said at the time, "is to formulate a plan which will relieve
present crowded conditions and provide adequate facilities and effective cur-
riculums in future years at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayer."

Among major problems which faced the board were: the inadequacy of the
antiquated Holmes school, overcrowded classrooms at the Bryant and Lowell-
Longfellow schools, the condition of sanitary facilities at the Whittier school
and the ever-increasing demand by the public for kindergarten training. The in-
creased vehicular traffic and the resultant increased danger to school children
was another major factor.

The findings resulted in an intensive study in which both the citizen's
council and the board of education shared.

Serious discussion in a series of meetings and a tour of existing facilities
culminated many months later in the drafting of an expansion program and,
subsequently, agreement that the proposition should be submitted to the voters.

Thus, on November 7, 1953, residents in Grade School District 152 went
to the polls and overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 1,789 to 234, a margin
of almost eight to one, the expansion program. It was the biggest school elec-
tion in terms of votes cast in the history of the district.

In general, the voters granted the board of education permission to obtain
sites for four schools in remote portions of the district, neighborhood type
structures enrolling kindergarten children through the sixth grade, constructing
kindergarten and administration facilities at the Whittier school, installing
kindergarten programs at the Lowell and Bryant schools, and remodeling sani-
tary facilities at the Whittier school.

Accordingly, in August, 1954, contracts were let for the construction of
four new buildings, later to be named: (1) Sandburg school, 145th and
Myrtle, cost $327,813; (2) Field school, 147th and Wallace Avenue, cost
$337,486; (3) Emerson school, 158th Street and Page Avenue, cost $325,258;
(4) new Holmes school, 160th Street and Carse Avenue, cost $326,500.

The improvement phase of the project followed at a later date.

Although considerable effort was expended in trying to have the four new
buildings complete in time for the opening of the school term in September,
1955, construction difficulties made this impossible and at the time only two
of the schools, the Emerson and the Field, were ready to accept students. It is
significant also that the beginning of the new term also heralded the start of
kindergarten classes in the district for the first time in history.

While the building program progressed, the year 1954 also marked the
passing of an old school landmark, the Holmes school, which had been aban-
doned and the children assigned to the Lowell school. Wreckers removed the
last vestiges of the oldest school building in the community during the same
year.

Growing pains being a common ailment in school districts it was natural
that with an expanding community a need was felt once more for additional
classroom space, and again an education-conscious electorate approved an ex-
pansion program on December 14, 1957. In this instance, expending of $875,-
000 was authorized for: (1) construction of an addition to the Bryant school
at 147th and Main Streets; (2) the construction of a new school, later named
the Riley, at 160th and Wood Streets; (3) the replacement of the seriously de-
teriorated Lowell school.

78

The three propositions presented were approved by a total vote of 2,461 -
691, a margin of more than three and a half to one.

The Riley school and the new Lowell building were ready to receive pupils
in September, 1959, their openings having been preceded during the previous
winter by the addition at the Bryant school.

The Grade School District 152 facilities also include two recent additions
to existing schools, one at the Sandburg in September, 1961, and the other
presently proposed for the Riley school and expected to be completed by Sep-
tember, 1963. It should be pointed out here that these two improvements were
accomplished without the necessity of the board of education asking for voter
approval of the needed expenditure. Both were built from funds currently in
the district's building fund.

So from a meager beginning of one small building, few students and a
single teacher, the Grade School District 152 system has grown into an opera-
tion of eight institutions located strategically throughout the district, housing
2,894 children and requiring the services of 115 teachers, including principals
at each institution, not to mention large secretarial and custodial staffs.

SUPERINTENDENTS WHO HAVE SERVED DISTRICT

F. L. Miller May 5, 1896 to June 30, 1932

E. E. Bratcher July 1, 1932 to June 30, 1935

C. C. Thompson July 1, 1935 to June 30, 1950

Lee M. Morris July 1, 1950 to the present

PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

James Pettigrew 1896-1898 Carl Madory 1932-1933

A. W. Campbell 1898-1899 Jesse D. Coale 1933-1944

G. A. Stevenson 1900-1902 Wm. A. Herrick 1944-1945

W. D. Rogers 1902-1911 Dr. H. C. Drummond 1945-1952

Edward Anderson 1911-1914 James T. Wilkes 1952-1958

Thomas C. Stobbs 1914-1926 Dr. Geo. B. Madory ....1958-1959

Lester J. Morrison 1926-1928 Dr. H. Vance Phillips 1959-1960

David J. Hughes 1928-1932 James A. Haines 1960-1963

THE AMANDA SMITH INDUSTRIAL
HOME FOR ORPHANED CHILDREN

In June, 1900, a noted colored evangelist, Amanda Smith, purchased a
well-appointed brick building at 147th Street and Jefferson Avenue in North
Harvey.

Born in slavery she became conscious early in life of the plight of the
needs of uncared for colored children. Her school, she felt, was a partial
answer to the problem.

Financed by public contributions, from the profits of a small newspaper
she published, and from the sale of her autobiography, the school cared for at
least thirty pupils each year, all of them trained to lead useful lives. The food
was frugal, though substantial, much of the vegetables being grown on a vacant
lot to the east of the school with the pupils tilling the soil, planting the seeds
and caring for the crops.

As Mrs. Smith grew older she found the pace of her evangelistic work, plus

79

that of caring for the orphans too great for her to match and she was required
to turn the education of the children over to another teacher whose name has
been lost. Older youngsters became students at the Bryant school.

In 1918, an early evening fire swept away the home and despite the best
efforts of the Harvey Fire Department, two of the twenty-two children asleep
on the second floor died of suffocation from the smoke. Others, all ranging in
age from three to nine years, were removed to safety. Historians recall the
valiant efforts of Dr. Thomas Noble, Dr. G. A. Stevenson and Dr. Morse, who
worked throughout the night to revive the victims. Neighbors also assisted and
took many of the children into their homes for temporary refuge.

The home was never rebuilt and the surviving children were sent to other
orphanages. One of the students, a James Marshall, continued to live in the
community and at one time was employed by the Oliver Drug Store as a
janitor.

SCHOOL DISTRICT 147

Records of the formation of this school district are either missing or vague
and the only reference as to its beginning is found in a terse statement by an
unknown pioneer that "in 1902 D. W. Gamble was the principal in District
147 which had a four-room and two one-room schools."

However, in the school archives there is a note that Francis Thompson
was principal in 1901.

This district is not so closely associated with Harvey history as either Grade
School District 152 or Thornton Township High School District 205. Actual-
ly only one of four schools, the Washington, is located within the city limits.
The McKinley and Lincoln schools are in Dixmoor and the Garfield in
Blue Island.

It should suffice, therefore, to record that superintendents who have served
the district through the years were: Francis Thompson (1901), D. W. Gamble
(1902-1906), Louis A. Pringle (1906-1943), Elmer G. Kich (1943-1961),
Bert Williams (1961- ).

Principals who have served the Washington school are: James Rickhoff
(1940-1943), George Lieb (1945-1948), George Lehner (1948-1952), and
Stanley J. Sieman (1952 to the present).

Because of his years of service to the district, special mention should be
tendered Elmer G. Kich, a former Harvey resident, who retired from the educa-
tional field after having served the district for 35 years, from 1926 to 1961.

Prior to his promotion to district superintendent in 1943, Mr. Kich was
employed as the assistant principal at the McKinley school from 1926 to 1928
and as principal from 1928 to 1942.

The membership of the first board of education in 1900 consisted of: E.
J. Walthers, president, and Thomas W. Smith, George Weseloh, Henry Rust,
George Salkeld, Fred Heintz and John Ruess.

The original Washington school at 154th Street and Lincoln Avenue, a
building that served Harvey's pupils on the far west side, was constructed in
1896. It was abandoned in 1928 when the new Washington School was built at
153rd Street and Lincoln Avenue. The old school was subsequently demolished
and the property later sold at auction.

Since its erection, the Washington School has been enlarged. In 1952 six
classrooms were added, and again in 1958 five classrooms were added.

The original Lincoln-McKinley school, which serves some Harvey residents,

80

was erected in 1897. Destroyed by fire in 1922, it was replaced by a new
brick structure. Additions have been made to the building, seven classrooms in
1949 and six classrooms in 1954.

The present board of education consists of Fred Clavio, president, Lloyd
M. Dutell, Roy L. Evans, Robert R. Frederick, Kenneth R. Matthies, Sr.,
Arthur S. Sorensen and Carl Sholeen.

THORNTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL

Harvey once had a high school all of its own, but it was short lived. As a
matter of fact, founded in 1892, it ceased to exist in 1898 with the formation
of Thornton Township High School District 205.

When it became evident that the Harvey High school would develop far
beyond the capacity of the financial resources of the community it was
Prof. F. L. Miller, superintendent of the grade school district, who suggested
the organization of a high school district. It was discussed for a year before
any concrete steps were taken. The proposition was submitted to the township
voters and despite considerable opposition, the proposition carried and the
township high school district became a reality. Named to its board of educa-
tion were W. H. Miller, a banker; J. A. Lawson, a mechanic; F. C. Howland
and F. A. Braley, merchants, and J. C. Howe, a farmer.

A school site, one block square in size, was bought and upon it rose a
three-story building made of '"granite and terra cotta with tile roof". It is the
center building of the group which now constitute Thornton Township high
school.

Early documents say it had "every device for the comfort and convenience
of students and teachers known in modern school architecture." Dedication of
the $100,000 structure was held on May 25, 1900.

ORIGINAL BUILDING, THORNTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL
81

Beginning with just four teachers the school in 1903 employed seven.

The first change in administration came in 1908 when Professor Cable re-
signed and his position was assumed by Lewis W. Smith. This same year four
new members were elected to the school board. Included were Dr. T. A.
Noble who was to serve for many years; W. H. Pease, J. H. McKee and L. A.
Dolton.

Although it was generally believed that the original building would serve
the students adequately for many years it became evident that the building was
soon to become too small. Within a decade the enrollment had more than
doubled to 255 students and the class of 1909 graduated 28 students.

Certain departments needed additional space to continue their effective
work and the demand for a more comprehensive curriculum became wide-
spread.

To meet this situation the board of education submitted a bond issue of
$140,000, small by today's standards but great by those of the time. Although
it was defeated by the voters in February, 1910, it was approved when re-
submitted in August of the same year. South and north wings to the original
building were dedicated in the Spring of 1912.

Lewis W. Smith continued as principal until 1919 when William E. McVey,
who was to have a long and illustrious career at the high school, was named
principal. He served until 1926 as principal when the board of education
changed his title to the more august one of superintendent. Mr. McVey con-
tinued to serve until his resignation in August, 1947. It is worthy of note that
once he retired from the educational field, Dr. McVey was to serve the Fourth
Congressional District as a member of the United States House of Representa-
tives, a position he held until his death. A more detailed story of Dr. McVey's
career will be found elsewhere in this volume.

Many educational innovations were introduced during Dr. McVey's super-
intendency. The student population had grown from 416 in 1920 to 1,390 in
1930.

A proponent of the junior college movement, it was Dr. McVey who intro-
duced the idea to the board of education and it became a part of the township
educational system in 1927. The first graduation class in 1929 numbered 47.
It has served the purpose for which it was intended, to prepare its students for
the third and fourth years of college at a cost within the reach of all parents.

During the 1930's the school continued to experience a steady increase in
enrollment, as a matter of fact the student body numbered 2,919 in 1940, and
the existing facilities were strained in an effort to maintain the quality of
education.

By 1934 the original buildings had become so crowded that it became
necessary to install a two-shift program, with half of the student body attend-
ing morning classes and the others in the afternoon.

In 1936 another addition was begun. It included new classrooms, two
study halls, a theater, a music department with soundproof studios and a new
and larger cafeteria.

The addition made possible the return to a single schedule, but in less than
10 years a rapidly increasing student enrollment made necessary still another
addition and in November, 1948, eight business department classrooms with
modern business training facilities made their debut.

Although the building program for academic purposes developed at inter-
vals, adequate provisions for physical education had not been provided.

The old Buda gym at 149th Street and Center Avenue became high school

82

district property. Beginning in 1926 boys' gym classes were transferred from the
old building and all indoor athletic contests were held there. In 1927 a pool
for use by both boy and girl students was installed, but even these facilities
failed to meet the ever-growing demand. This set the stage for the erection of
the fine physical education plant of today, although it was not until 1950 that
the new building became a reality.

In 1958 the mathematics and social studies departments, together with the
administrative and counselors' offices, were moved from their old locations
into the new two-floor wing in the southwest corner of the campus. This wing
had been completed as one phase of a $6,800,000 bond issue which also saw
the erection of a new township high school, Thornridge, in Dolton, placed
there to accommodate the students that came into the township in the tremen-
dous residential building boom of the decade ending in 1959.

Details of the new high school are not recorded here because of its loca-
tion outside the City of Harvey.

It is significant to note that as this history is being written another bond
issue for $4,500,000 submitted to the township voters, this for addi-
tions to both the Thornton and Thornridge structures, was approved on
October 27, 1962.

In its more than 60 years of history Thornton Township high school has
had remarkably few superintendents. Upon Mr. McVey's resignation in 1947
Dr. Clifford Maddox served as acting superintendent for the 1947-48 school
year with Joseph B. Stephens serving as his assistant. Dr. A. V. Lockhart
served from August, 1948 to January, 1950 when he resigned because of ill
health. Mr. Stephens also served as his assistant and then became acting
superintendent until September of the same year.

Theodore R. Birkhead became superintendent on August 30, 1950, and
served until 1952 when he was succeeded by Dr. Ernest M. Hanson. Because of
illness Dr. Hanson resigned the position in March, 1957, but he remains today
as a member of the administrative staff. James L. Beck served from March to
July 1957 when Dr. J. D. Logsdon, the present superintendent, took over the
duties.

Throughout the years many members of the faculty have built up impressive
records and the list of those who have served for 25 years and more is long,
indeed.

It is fitting here, that those who have compiled 30 years or more of service
to the school should be recognized. Dean of all teachers in terms of years of
service was O. Fred Umbaugh who taught for 46 years before his retirement in
1960. Mae M. Sexauer served 43 years before her retirement in 1961. Guy
Phillips had a record of 38 years before he retired in 1961 and James L. Beck
retired in June, 1960 after being on the staff for 41 years. Another veteran be-
fore his retirement in 1958 was Arthur C. Brookley, a teacher for 42 years.

Still a member of the faculty after having served 37 years is William C.
Fowler. Lawrence Britton taught for 36 years before he retired in 1960 and
Joseph B. Stephens served for 35 years prior to his death in 1959.

Leona H. Benson had a record of 34 years on the staff before she retired in
1955, as did Grace Holton before her death in 1961. His retirement in 1956
ended 33 years as a Thornton teacher for Daniel P. Van Etten.

Teachers with 30 years of service who retired or died while faculty mem-
bers were: Don C. Allen, Mildren Anderson, Vera Crites, Dr. Minna Jewell,
Jacob L. Zimmerman, Eva L. Lieber. Mr. Allen and Miss Lieber died, the others
are retired. Since his retirement Mr. Zimmerman has died.

83

1898

2

1910

18

1920

28

1930

72

1940

104

1950

136

1959

225*

1960

272

1962

325

There are a number of teachers still on the faculty who have long records
of service. Included are: Clarence C. Stegmeier (35), Elmer C. Ohlert (34),
Marie H. Wallace (32), Dorothea Thiel (33), Gilbert R. Valbert (34), Flor-
ence Waterman (33), Celeste Noel (32), Thielen B. Huddlestun and Wilma V.
Reed (31), Florence Wunderlich (33).

The following statistics reveal the growth of the township high school over
the years.

Students Faculty

1895 66

1898 96

1900 129

1910 266

1920 416

1930 1390

1940 2919

1950 3400

1959 4262*

1960 2923

1961 3135

1962 3509

* Occupation of Thornridge high school in Dolton began at the second
semester when 1023 students were transferred. A portion of the faculty
also transferred. Since then the student body at Thornridge has numbered
1,560 in 1960, 1,920 in 1961, and 2,220 in 1962.
Indicative of the physical growth of the township high school district facili-
ties are the bond issues that have been approved through the years. They are
as follows:

1898 — About $120,000 for the original three-story building.

1910 — $140,000 for an auditorium and a cafeteria.

1925 — $345,000 for vocational shops, home economics and art rooms,

swimming pool and heating plant.
1936 — $300,000 for a northwest wing housing science classrooms and

laboratories.
1947 — $1,500,000, of which $1,350,000 was for new gymnasium and
swimming pool, the balance for a business department, addi-
tional cafeteria area and a new music department.

1956 — $400,000 for purchase of Thornridge high school site in Dolton.

1957 — $6,800,000 to build Thornridge, to add a southwest wing of

classroom and administrative offices at Thornton, and $600,000
to build a vocational training building on Main Street.
1962 — $4,500,000 for classroom additions at Thornridge high, improve-
ment and construction of girl's physical educational facilities at
Thornton and enlarging of Thornton auditorium.

Finally, the growth of the schools is indicated in terms of money expended
for their operation. Operating budgets prior to 1929 were unobtainable. There-
after they are:

1929 — $344,500 1959 — $4,803,433

1939 — $241,019 1962 — $4,615,541

Many of the township's outstanding citizens have, as members of the board

of education, determined the policies of the school and many gave of their

efforts over long periods of years. In 1898 the board consisted of: W. H. Miller,

84

president, and members F. G. Howland, F. A. Braley, J. C. Howe, James A.
Lawson.

W. H. Miller was still president in 1908 but new members were W. H.
Pease, J. H. McKee, Dr. T. A. Noble, L. A. Dolton. Dr. Noble assumed the
presidency of the board in 1912. E. A. Adams was named a board member.
A. H. McDougall and George Gibson were elected in 1913.

Dr. T. A. Noble became president in 1919 and members were Charles E.
Waterman, A. H. McDougall, G. H. Gibson, W. G. Morse. This board func-
tioned until 1927 when E. P. Dickey replaced W. G. Morse. Dr. Noble died
in 1927 and Charles E. Waterman became the president. W. R. Brandt was
named to fill the vacancy that was created. This board functioned until 1934
when George P. Fisher replaced E. P. Dickey.

In 1935 Harry A. Malone succeeded Charles Waterman on the board,
Herbert S. Dickinson was elected to succeed William R. Brandt, and A. H.
MacDougall was named president.

Charles E. Waterman and William R. Brandt returned to the board in 1938,
replacing Harry A. Malone and Herbert S. Dickinson, Walter Haines was
elected to the board in 1939 when George P. Fisher retired.

Charles E. Waterman died December 28, 1940, and in April, 1941, Edwin
Waterman and Frank P. Cowing were named to the board replacing Mr. Water-
man and William Brandt.

G. H. Gibson was elected president in 1944 and functioned with the same
board until 1950 when William B. Kane succeeded Frank P. Cowing as a
member.

When Walter Haines and George H. Gibson retired in 1951 they were
succeeded by George H. Meyer and Dr. Clarence Simon. In 1952 the board
was increased to seven members. During the year A. H. MacDougall retired.
Named to the board then were Henry J. Van Der Giessen, George E. Gilley
and Fred T. Ehlert.

When Edwin Waterman retired as president in 1953 William B. Kane was
named president and Henry Vandenberg was elected. The board remained the
same until 1955 when Herbert G. Greiner and Dr. Frederick Weiss replaced
George E. Gilley and Henry Van Der Giessen, who retired.

In 1958 William B. Kane resigned and he was succeeded in the presidency
by Fred T. Ehlert who died in 1961. The presidency then was assumed by
Henry Vandenberg. Membership of the board then consisted of Mr. Ehlert, Mr.
Vandenberg, Herbert Greiner, Harold J. Gouwens, Robert H. Reese, Mrs.
Robert C. Pebworth and Louis Boudreau, who was named to fill the Kane
vacancy.

The present board consists of President Henry Vandenberg, Louis Boud-
reau, Harold J. Gouwens, Herbert G. Greiner, James T. Ozment, Mrs. Robert
Pebworth and Robert H. Reese. Mr. Ozment had been appointed a board
member upon the death of Mr. Ehlert. Burton Evans serves as the board's
counsel, J. A. Peterson as the business manager, Howard Doster as superin-
tendent of buildings and grounds, Dr. Ernest M. Hanson as director of research.

August F. Waldschmidt has served as the Thornton Township treasurer con-
tinuously since his appointment by the Thornton Township Board of School
Trustees in 1934.

ASCENSION SCHOOL

As Ascension parish grew the necessity for a school where a Christian

85

education could be provided for Catholic children became increasingly acute
and it was during the summer of 1913 that Father McCarthy visited the
Mother House of the Sisters of St. Dominic in Adrian, Michigan, with the
objective of getting teachers to staff a parish school.

His request was granted by Mother Camilla of the Order, who assigned
four nuns to provide the instruction.

On August 21, 1913 Sister Ida, assigned as the superior, arrived in the city
with Sister Constance, Sister De Paul and Sister Winifred and took possession
of the now demolished little residence on Vine Avenue for use as a convent.
During the next month detailed plans were made for the opening of the school
which was to become known as the Columbus. The school was opened in the
building on 153rd Street just to the rear of the church, later to be transformed
into a convent.

Several years after the school had been established, the sisters were moved
into the school building where they occupied quarters on the second floor. The
first and third floors were utilized for classrooms.

A parish historian points out that "during these years the sisters had varied
experiences, with numerous school activities being conducted above and below
the convent."

Although classes were small durnig the first few years of the school, a
steady growth was experienced and each year saw the enrollment increase. It
is significant to note here that the first graduating class in 1914 consisted of six
members, Frances Cochrane, Bessie Simons, Theodore Walenga, Arthur Klein,
Benjamin and Dorothy Gibson.

The constant growth in student population soon posed a space problem and
wheels were set in motion for the erection of a new school building. The
cornerstone for what was to be called Ascension school, was laid in 1926 and in
early 1927 the school welcomed its first pupils. Its first graduation class
numbered 25 students.

Each of the pastors of the church took an active interest in the affairs of
the school but the Rev. Edward Holloway was credited with having opened up
many new avenues of activity for the students. He arranged for their participa-
tion in religious exercises, for the establishment of a kindergarten which he
founded in 1943. Thirty youngsters constituted the first kindergarten class, al-
though the grade school had shown great growth requiring the increase in the
teaching staff to eight sisters.

For many years, Ascension had the only kindergarten in the community.

Sister Ida, whose dedicated effort got the fledgling school away to an im-
pressive start, and her companions, have since died, but their inspiring tradition
of service to the students has been carried on effectively by a succession of out-
standing educators, including Sister Rose Vincent, Sister Marcella, Sister An-
thony, Sister Florence, Sister Regina Grace, Sister Madeline, Sister Louise
Cecile, the present superior.

Largely through the inspiration of Father Holloway, not only students at
Ascension, but other Catholic children attending the public schools have been
provided with effective religious educations, classes for the latter being held
on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The quality of education offered Catholic children in the community has
been maintained by the present pastor, the Rev. James E. Shevlin and gradu-
ates of Ascension are to be found in numbers in the honor groups not only at
Catholic high schools, but at Thornton Township High School.

86

HARVEY INDUSTRY

"In every rank, or great or
small, 'Tis industry that
supports us all."

John Gay

87

88

INDUSTRY

The most important contribution to the well-being of any community is its
industry and where industry is a major tax contributor a community is usually
found to have excellent schools and an equally excellent business climate. This
is most true in Harvey where industry is a monetary giant when its importance
to every facet of community life is considered.

According to the latest figures available, those for 1959, combined employ-
ment of the city's industrial interests totaled almost 8,000, and split among this
army of workers was a vast payroll of more than $47,000,000.

In a "Salute to Industry" in 1960, the Harvey Association of Commerce and
Industry said: "The high employment of today which is earning this money is
reflected in Harvey in the ways of high home building, increased business
activity and better living conditions."

Retail sales here are in direct proportion to the amount of industrial
activitv and it is important to record that such sales amounted to more than
$50,000,000 in 1959.

Of great importance are the industrial contributions to the public welfare
in the form of taxes and in the year 1959 these taxes amounted to $1,176,000.
The combined total of tax monies received from every other tax source was
about $1,184,000. From these figures it is apparent that a 50 per cent share of
the entire tax bill is borne by the city's industrial interests.

When one considers the excellent school system which Harvey people en-
joy he must consider the major role played by industry in making possible this
fine system. Almost 75 per cent of taxes collected are received by the schools,
with other shares going to a number of taxing bodies, including the city gov-
ernment.

Historical sketches of Harvey's industries, both old and new, are recorded
on the subsequent pages.

HARVEY ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE
AND INDUSTRY

Forerunners of the Harvey Association of Commerce and Industry were
the Harvey Chamber of Commerce which was organized in 1905 and survived
until 1922; the Harvey Businessman's Association formed in 1935 at the con-
clusion of the depression.

In 1940 the name of the Businessmen's association was changed and its
membership became members of the Harvey Association of Commerce, a
name to be changed again to the Harvey Association of Commerce and In-
dustry in 1955.

Businessmen and representatives of industry comprise the association mem-
bership and, because of their deep interest in the welfare of the community as
a retail center and as a community with an adequate labor force, they have
been able to contribute much to the growth of the city.

Their suggestions to the city government over the years have resulted in
many civic improvements and the two bodies, government and the association,
have worked in close cooperation toward making the city one of the finest in
the south suburban area, one in which the citizens, business and industry work
toward a common goal.

89

The association has enjoyed the benefits of excellent leadership as is evi-
denced by the following men who have served as presidents:

Benjamin Sachs ...7.7... 1940 Nelson DeFord 1951

John Bardwick, Jr 1941 Clyde W. Byers 1952

John Bardwick, Jr 1942 L. B. Powell 1953

Paul W. Soenksen 1943 L. B. Powell 1954

W. H. Hammer 1944 Harry Krogh 1955

W. H. Hammer 1945 Harry Krogh 1956

Henry C. Piel 1946 Herbert C. Nielsen 1957

Henry C. Piel 1947 Glen Barger 1958

William D. O'Hara 1948 Louis B. Gross 1959

William D. O'Hara 1949 Dwain D. Marsh 1960

Nelson DeFord 1950 Dr. H. Vance Phillips 1961-62

HARVEY FEDERAL SAVINGS
AND LOAN ASSOCIATION

Founded in 1911 as the Harvey Building and Loan Association, the Harvey
Federal Savings and Loan Assocaition has become increasingly important on the
local financial horizon over the succeeding 51 years.

It should be noted that the association had assets of less than $3,000 at its
founding. Today those assets have reached the astronomical total of
$35,556,326.

Since its founding the association has had a two-fold purpose to which it
has rigidly adhered — promoting community thrift and home ownership.

Despite changing times, high and low economic periods, no investor has
suffered monetary loss from his investment. Funds which have flowed into the
association from investors have been wisely channeled toward the objective of
its founders — home ownership, and Harvey Federal Savings mortgage loans
have in great measure contributed to Harvey's present stature as a community
of home owners.

Originally, the association was set up most inconspicuously, in the real
estate office of a Harvey pioneer, A. W. Campbell, who became the secretary.
From that point it enjoyed a healthy and consistent growth. Savings accounts
grew, mortgage loans increased under strong management and direction. It is
noteworthy that the association has never failed to pay a dividend to its inves-
tors during its 51 years of existence.

In 1934 the association received a charter from the Federal government,
the action being taken to provide insurance of the accounts of investors by the
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, an agency of the United
States government. Under this arrangement the association is under federal
supervision and examination. In addition, the new charter helped simplify the
operations of the institution and provided modern principles of operation.

The present executive officer in the association, John Bardwick, Jr., presi-
dent, began his association with the institution in 1924 when it was still housed
in the small Campbell office at 15407 Broadway. In 1929 Mr. Bardwick was
elected to the board of directors and one year later he assumed complete charge
of the association operation.

In 1934, because of his knowledge of building and loan work, he was called
to Washington, D.C., to serve as federal representative for the Federal Home

90

Loan Bank in Illinois. He served until the spring of 1935 when he resigned and
returned to active management of the Harvey association.

However, the following year he took a leave of absence to accept the posi-
tion of vice president of the Federal Home Loan Bank in Chicago, serving the
states of Illinois and Wisconsin. Subsequently he was elected also as treasurer.
Despite these pressing duties he actively served the Harvey association, con-
tinued as a member of its board of directors and devoted much of his free time
to its affairs.

Early in 1939 he resigned from the Chicago institution and returned to take
active charge of the Harvey association. That fall he was elected president and
he has served continuously in that capacity since.

In the interim, the association moved from its comparatively humble
quarters on Broadway to 15407 Center Avenue, and it was at this location
that it survived the depression, despite the fact that many investors were forced
to convert savings accounts into cash for daily living expenses. The association
was not only able to handle all such requests but continued to pay its annual
dividend, a unique accomplishment for the times, indeed.

By 1940 shareholders numbered 1,647, the institution had 767 real estate
loans and assets had reached $2,619,117. Twenty-two years later, in 1962,
those assets have grown to $35,556,326.

The association has always had the benefit of a fine directorship with
qualified leadership. During the years since 1940 the following have served
as chairmen of the board of directors: H. S. Dickinson, January 15, 1940, to
March, 1940; Dr. A. R. Anderson, March 1940 to January 1945; George F.
Sutton, January 15, 1945 to his death in October, 1945; Harry W. Vinke, who
finished Mr. Sutton's term and then was elected chairman in January, 1946,
serving until January 1950; A. Myron Lambert, January, 1955 to January
1959; Guy T. Avery, January 1959 to the present.

Current officers are: John Bardwick, Jr., president; W. H. Hammer, vice
president; Raymond L. Jenkins, vice president and secretary; Thomas Bard-
wick, vice president; William H. Metz, assistant vice president; Martin L.
Chadwick, treasurer.

Members of the board of directors are: Guy T. Avery, Owen J. Higgins,
Dr. A. R. Anderson, John Bardwick, Jr., John P. Buck, Jack A. Handley, Harry
N. Krogh, A. Myron Lambert, Foss P. Miller, Paul W. Soenksen, Harry W.
Vinke, and Robert E. Zell.

WHITING CORPORATION

The history of Whiting Corporation is, in large part, the story of its founder,
J. H. Whiting, who until his death in 1935, had been for over 50 years the
active head and guiding hand of the company.

As a young man, Mr. Whiting secured employment with the Car Wheel
Foundry in Detroit. Often he told his co-workers that he would do most of
his clerical work at night so that he would have more time to spend in the
foundry by day and thus learn the car wheel business. Learn it he did, and
eventually he became superintendent and part-owner of the shop.

At that time, it was the custom for foundries to build their own machinery,
including the cupola furnace for melting iron. Some of it was very crude. Mr.
Whiting decided to try his hand at building cupolas, using the improved con-
struction which he had developed and patented. With the aid of a few friends,
a small company was organized under the name of Detroit Foundry Equipment

91

Company; and in 1884, the manufacture of Whiting cupolas was under way.

Attracted to Chicago as the business center of the Midwest by the World's
Fair of 1893, Mr. Whiting decided in 1894 to leave Detroit and settle at
Harvey, at the same time changing the name of his company to the Whiting
Foundry Equipment Company. This name was used until 1920 when the
name was changed to Whiting Corporation.

These early years were full of struggle. The country was suffering the ef-
fects of a depression. But somehow the company managed to survive and gradu-
ally got on its feet, keeping out of debt and plowing earnings back into the
business. Additional ground was purchased and new buildings and machinery
provided, until today the plant nouses ample facilities for the manufacture
of many different kinds of heavy machinery and industrial equipment.

The Whiting cupola is still the standard iron melter in America. Approxi-
mately 6,000 cupolas have been built, about 80 per cent of the gray iron melted
in the United States today is melted in Whiting cupolas. Other products of
Whiting's Metallurgical Equipment Division include the Hydro-Arc electric
furnace, some 200 different types of ladles plus air furnaces, annealing ovens,
mechanical charging devices, and a number of smaller items too numerous to
mention here.

Whiting entered the material handling field in these early years through
the request of a regular foundry customer who was in need of an overhead
crane. This first Whiting crane was constructed outdoors on wooden horses
and skidded on to a rail car for shipment. From making cranes for foundries
to making cranes for other plants was a short step. Today the Crane Division
accounts for a substantial share, in terms of volume, of Whiting's output.

Whiting was the first to market a crane completely equipped with roller
bearings and herringbone gears and other refinements which insure smooth,
effective, overhead handling at lowest possible cost. As one of the major crane
builders in this country, Whiting serves an ever increasing circle of industries,
including railroad shops, power plants, automotive factories, plate glass plants,
paper mills, steel mills, and numerous others. The first 250-ton capacity crane
for handling locomotives was designed and built at Harvey.

Whiting's Transportation Division has pioneered in a number of products for
safe and economical repair of locomotives and cars. Among these products are
the drop table, the rep track jack and the transfer table, as well as special
trucks and turntables for railroad service and automatic car washing systems.

In 1922, Whiting purchased the Swenson Evaporator Company, a manu-
facturer of equipment for the chemical processing industry. This division still
operates under the name of Swenson. Through extensive research and de-
velopment work, the Swenson division has been able to introduce a number of
new and improved designs. In addition to manufacturing evaporators, Swenson
also makes crystallizers, spray dryers, and a whole line of products for the pulp
and paper industry.

Whiting's reputation as a manufacturer of diversified products was strength-
ened in the early '40's with the acquisition of the Hydro-Arc electric furnace.
In 1948, Whiting broadened its material handling line by purchasing the
Spencer & Morris Company, a manufacturer of monorail equipment. This
product is now marketed under the trademark of Trambeam.

With introduction in 1950 of the Trackmobile, a highly versatile rail car
mover which operates on either road or rail, Whiting provided industry with
one of the most useful handling units ever developed.

The latest step in Whiting's continued efforts to broaden its product line

92

is the introduction of Pressuregrip equipment, a material handling device which
utilizes the principle of atmospheric pressure in handling such materials as steel
plate, glass, aluminum, and a host of other items.

At its Harvey facility today. Whiting utilizes 21 acres of ground with
buildings providing 404,351 square feet of floor space. The company employs
about 1,050 persons at the Harvey plant and also operates manufacturing fa-
cilities at Gadsden, Alabama, and Welland, Ontario, Canada. Whiting's market-
ing sphere is international in scope. The company maintains an export sales of-
fice in New York.

The current officers of Whiting Corporation are T. L. Hammond, Chair-
man of the Board; J. A. Handley, President; G. E. Seavoy, Vice President -
Marketing; Walter Hebble, Vice President - Operations; W. A. Morey, Vice
President - Engineering; J. Clyde Thomas, Treasurer and Secretary; and Dan
Polderman, Jr., Vice President and Director of Foreign Sales.

MAREMONT AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTS, INC.

Although one of the city's youngest firms, Maremont Automotive Products,
Inc. ranks as one of its most important industries of today. Indeed, the company
is one of the most important in the automotive field in the United States.

Maremont entered the automobile muffler replacement field in 1939 and
upon the conclusion of World War II bought the site of the old Austin Manu-
facturing Company — 19 acres of land and approximately 270,000 square feet
of building on 155th Street just east of the Illinois Central railroad. In this
plant the firm consolidated its entire exhaust system parts operation and since
has become a leader in the field.

The mufflers involve several stamping, bonding and other processes — one
a special alloy-coating of aluminum, cadmium, lead and zinc applied to the
inside and outside of the muffler shells. Maremont research resulted in the
development of a corrosion-resistant coating for the product.

The company employs more than 600 in its Harvey plant with a weekly
payroll exceeding $75,000.

The company also operates a plant in Cicero where mufflers and brake
shoes are manufactured. It has other facilities at strategic locations throughout
the United States.

Currently underway at the Harvey factory is the construction of an addi-
tional building which will add substantially to the warehousing and manufactur-
ing space occupied by the company. It is significant to note that even now, be-
fore the facility is completed, more than 400,000 mufflers and more than
500.000 tailpipes are stocked to service the company's nationwide network of
dealers and distributors.

The new building is scheduled for completion and occupancy this year.

WOODS-MOBILETTE

History of this short-lived factory in the city is abbreviated. Located on
147th Street just east of the Ingalls Shepard plant, it is worthy of mention be-
cause the firm manufactured an automobile that for a time took the nation
by storm.

It made news because it was equipped with generator and automatic starter
and other innovations in the automotive field.

93

First mention of the firm was made in the Harvey Tribune of August 21,
1914 which recorded that Woods-Mobilette was holding its first annual stock-
holders' meeting at which 2,200 stockholders or their proxies were represented.

At that time it was reported business was so good that the plant was work-
ing both day and night and was producing about 1,000 cars each month.

However, the demand for the automobile diminished steadily and the firm
closed its doors, although the date of that decision has not been recorded.

It is noted that as late as 1940 one of these Harvey-built cars was in pos-
session of a Joliet auto dealer and was still in running condition.

AUSTIN MANUFACTURING CO.

Having burned out in Chicago in 1898, the Austin Manufacturing Company
moved to Harvey in the following year and for a long period following was
one of the city's major industries, manufacturing a wide line of road grading
machinery.

The company remained in business here until 1939 after it had merged with
the Western Wheel Company of Aurora the year prior. All facilities and many
employees were moved to Aurora, Illinois.

The local plant, one of the city's largest, was taken over during World War
II by the Ammunition Container Corporation, a branch of the American Can
Company. A temporary factory manufacturing war materials for the United
States government, it was abandoned by the parent company shortly after
hostilities had ceased.

In 1945 it was bought by the Maremont Automotive Products, Inc.

WILLIAM E. DEE COMPANY

Although the William E. Dee Company was founded in 1855, the date of
its founding in Harvey is unrecorded.

The plant it occupied here has, however, an interesting history. It was the
site first of the Chicago Motor Vehicle Company, later the Harvey Motor
Truck Works, and it was in Harvey that the former company manufactured
the first motor truck ever built in the United States.

The significance of the motor truck industry as it is known today, was
hardly conceivable when the Harvey firm exhibited its product at the first auto-
mobile show ever held in the nation, although in what year this exhibition was
held also is unrecorded.

The William E. Dee Company eventually ceased its foundry operations al-
though the name is still contained in the Harvey business field. Its activities
today are restricted to the sale of sewer tile and kindred products. The firm is
located at the corner of 150th Street and Center Avenue.

FAHRALLOY COMPANY

The Fahralloy Company was founded by Dr. F. A. Fahrenwald, an inventor
whose patents were widely used in the industry, in 1933 and, despite the de-
pression, the company expanded because of the demand for its products.

Four years following its founding the firm found it necessary to expand
and came to Harvey in 1937 after purchasing a site bounded by Lexington and

94

Turlington Avenues and 149th and 150th Streets. The building was the site
of an old Harvey firm, the Koch Machine Shop.

Among Fahralloy products are propellors, chains, parts for cement mills,
oil stills, conveyor belts and many other items which are subjected to heat, wear
or corrosion. Castings manufactured by the company from 14 per cent
chromium and 65 per cent nickel are used in many food-making machines.

Not one of Harvey's major employers, Fahralloy, nevertheless, is an im-
portant local industry.

PERFECTION GEAR COMPANY

The Perfection Gear Company, manufacturer of automobile replacement
parts and industrial stock gears, was founded in 1919 by David H. Daskal,
George H. Daskal and David Davis.

Fourteen years later, in October, 1933, because of a greater demand for its
products and the resultant need for additional manufacturing space, the
company moved to its present location in Harvey at 152nd Street and Vin-
cennes Road. This plant had been the site of the old S. Ward Hamilton plant.

Despite the depression of the time, the company prospered and continued
to widen its scope of manufacturing to include the manufacture of parts used
by other than the automobile industry. The firm added plant space, bought ad-
ditional machinery and augmented its personnel staff. It became a nationally
recognized company in its field.

Before the beginning of World War II, Perfection Gear had swung into
the production of parts for war needs and the day of Pearl Harbor found the
Harvey firm ready and able to accept greater commitments for the production
of such needs. It became one of the government's most reliable sources of pro-
duction in the massive war effort.

At the termination of hostilities, Perfection began again a program of ex-
pansion and modernization of its equipment. Soon the company entered the in-
dustrial gear field with the purchase in 1948 of the American Stock Gear
Company which is now a manufacturing and sales division of Perfection Gear.

Today the company employs more than 500 persons. All manufacturing
operations are concentrated in its Harvey facility which today encompasses an
entire city block.

Located strategically throughout the nation are warehouses to speed up
customer service and it numbers among its holdings similar warehouses in
Canada and Mexico. Export offices are located in New York City and San
Francisco from which company products are shipped to Europe, Asia, Africa
and South America.

SINCLAIR RESEARCH LABORATORY

One of the city's newest industrial arrivals is the Sinclair Research Labora-
tories which occupies one of Harvey's most impressive structures on a 38-acre
site at 147th Street just east of the Illinois Central railroad.

Close cooperation between Sinclair Oil Company officials and the Harvey
city council during the administration of Arthur E. Turngren resulted in the
formal opening of the huge facility on October 22, 1948.

The original laboratory consisted of nine red face brick buildings with
Indiana limestone trim. Later additions were nuclear radiation and tracer lab-
oratory buildings.

95

The Sinclair Laboratories have been described as a "citadel of science,")
and aptly so, for here chemists, engineers, physicists and technicians combine i
their scientific knowledge to develop the new products and processes required I
to keep pace with the rapid changes in the fuel and transportation fields.

The skilled scientists who are gathered by the company from the most>
noted technical colleges and universities in the nation, explore, invent, discover
and improve oil products in a most scientific atmosphere.

At the research center they handle projects through test tube, bench scale
and pilot plant stages until they are perfected and made available to the com-|
mercial field.

Other buildings include the latest and most complete equipment for work
in such fields as radiation, catalysis, lubricants, corrosion prevention and fuels. !
Other facets of the laboratory work are process design, process development
and economic evaluation.

The local firm maintains a close liaison with the top management of Sin-
clair Oil Corporation, the parent company which is located in New York —
with research laboratories in Tulsa, Okla., and with major production, manu-
facturing and marketing subsidiaries throughout the United States.

Local scientists have accounted for many discoveries in the petroleum field.
These include a product known as RD-150, the oil industry's most widely used
platinum reforming catalyst, and another called RD-119, a rust inhibitor that
is conceded to have saved industry millions of dollars.

Other developments of the Harvey Laboratories include synthetic lubricants
which helped blast into orbit satellites still circling the globe; an additive to
gasoline which vastly improved engine performance, and, a lubrication additive
containing nickel which plates wear points in engines.

ALLIED STEEL CASTINGS COMPANY

As this document is being compiled plans are underway to close the plant
of the Allied Steel Castings Company located at 146th Street and Spaulding
Avenue. Plant officials announced the reason for closing as lack of profits.

However, for many years the firm was an important part of the Harvey
industrial family.

It was founded in June, 1918, when the property which formerly belonged
to Whiting Corporation, was acquired.

The company was formed to produce steel castings for the railroad industry,
the original melting unit being a Bessemer converter.

The company grew over the years and the melting system became the open
hearth type in 1920.

In 1939 Allied Steel bought the property adjacent to its original plant, prop-
erty that had formerly housed the Pettigrew Foundry. A large addition was built
in 1944.

Prior to its closing the firm was engaged in the manufacture of gear hous-
ings, coupler yokes and miscellaneous freight car castings for the railroad
industry.

R. E. NELSON, INC.

One of the city's smaller but nonetheless important industries because of the

nature of its business is R. E. Nelson, Inc., a "remanufacturer" of Ford engines.

The firm was established in Chicago in 1939 and moved its facilities to

96

Harvey in 1945 when it opened a plant on 152nd Street, just east of the Illinois
Central railroad and almost across from the Perfection Gear Company.

The company works directK with the Ford Motor Company and its dealers
and its products are sold on an exchange basis. Under this method of merchan-
dising a rebuildable product is turned over to Nelson at the time of purchase.
In simpler language for each remanufactured part disposed of, a used part has
been exchanged.

The used part received is then completely disassembled and only those parts
which pass rieid inspection are used, the non-usable parts being replaced with
new Ford parts.

AMERICAN STOVE COMPANY

One of Harvey's industrial pioneers, the American Stove Company was a
bulwark of employment for local workers until it moved its facilities from
Harvey to St. Louis in the Fall of 1948.

Because of its early importance to the economy of the city, its years of suc-
cessful operation are a definite part of Harvey history.

The American Stove Company branch in Chicago was moved here on
May 3, 1897, occupying a huge plant on Commercial Avenue near 157th
Street.

The firm was a pioneer in many cooking stove improvements. The first
oven heat regulator was developed here and the American Stove was the first
company to construct gas stoves of sheet steel. It later became a standard for
the industry.

The original stove produced by the firm was the result of a long process
and it has been said that a man at his own bench assembled the complete
stove. However, modern production methods were introduced and the method
of manufacture rivaled that of the "assembly line" process of the automobile
industry.

Immediately prior to its closing the firm employed more than 600 workers
and although a number of them moved to St. Louis when the operation was
transferred, others went on pension and many others were absorbed into the
labor forces of other industries.

Management being extremely sports-minded, a program of athletics for
employees commanded nationwide attention and both basketball and softball
teams representing the firm were found in national competition.

BLISS AND LAUGHLIN, INC.

From a humble beginning in 1891 when a partnership consisting of S. E.
Bliss and John E. Laughlin was formed to produce cold rolled shafting. Bliss
and Laughlin, Inc. has become one of the nation's major producers of cold
finished bar steels and shafting in the United States.

The original plant, near the location of the present factory, consisted of a
single small building with offices on the second floor. The office force
consisted of two employees in addition to the partners. Its annual capacity was
about 12,000 tons, distributed over a western area of about 300 miles in radius.

The founders of Bliss and Laughlin (Mr. Laughlin was not related to the
Laughlin of Jones and Laughlin) were among the pioneers in utilizing and
developing a then relatively new process for greatly improving the quality of
steel bars by subjecting them to high pressure.

97

The original process, developed during the Civil War period, consisted of
passing cold steel bars through a series of revolving rollers under pressure. This
method gave rise to the term "Cold Rolled Steel."

The rolling process gradually gave way to a more modern technique, de-
veloped in the 1890's, in which steel bars are produced by drawing them
through dies of various sizes and shapes. The end product is called "Cold
Drawn Steel."

Cold finished steel was used chiefly at the turn of the century for machine
shafts. In fact, Bliss and Laughlin's Harvey plant was locally known for years
as the "shafting works."

In December, 1919, the present company was organized into a corporation
of the same name, taking over the physical assets and good will of the original
firm.

Early in the year 1922 a progressive and well-planned expansion and build-
ing program was inaugurated. This first took the form of a broadening of the
organization and improvements in the company's manufacturing facilities, as
well as additions in space and equipment to carry on the work economically
and efficiently.

As time went on, it became necessary to increase shipping and production
facilities, to enlarge the offices, to increase the number of sales offices through-
out the country, and to acquire adjoining grounds for further expansion.

The growth of the company during this period was not only rapid but
sound, due to anticipation of future needs and careful planning. This business
policy brought the company into personal contact with thousands of users
of cold finished steel, representing a wide diversification of manufacturing
interests.

As a result, its production requirements advanced steadily and demands for
its products widened constantly. Old departments were expanded. New depart-
ments such as metallurgical, inspection, traffic, mechanical and fabricating
engineering for customer assistance, were added. Ranges of sizes were extended
for the full line of rounds, squares, hexagons, flats and special sections, plus
the addition of drawn and ground, and turned and ground steel.

Special attention was given toward improvement of finishes and in achiev-
ing closer control on concentricity, straightness and adherence to tolerance.

Early attention was paid to the subject of machinability, not only from
the standpoint of material composition but also to physical character and fabri-
cation plan as well.

The enlargement and expansion of the Harvey mill continued and its suc-
cess created an Eastern interest in the trade for the firm's steels. Early in the
year 1928 it was decided to erect an Eastern plant and on August 1 of that
year ground was broken for the new facility in Buffalo, New York. It was
formally opened for operation on April 2, 1929.

The new plant placed Bliss and Laughlin in the position of becoming a
national and international source of supply.

Despite general business conditions in the depression of the 1930's, the
Eastern plant continued to show steady business gains and, as a result, in 1936
it became necessary to double the manufacturing space and install additional
equipment.

In 1944 Bliss and Laughlin underwent further expansion through the
acquisition of the New England Drawn Steel Company in Mansfield, Massa-
chusetts. This plant is now 42,674 square feet in size, has an annual production
capacity of 40,000 tons and employs 30 persons. In 1953, the company moved
to expand its sales to the automotive industry by building a mill at Detroit.

98

The Detroit plant has since been doubled in size to rank as the largest cold
finished steel mill in the Motor City. The size and location of the Michigan
facility enables Bliss and Laughlin to serve the auto industry speedily and at a
significant saving in shipping costs.

The Detroit plant covers 83,358 square feet, and has an annual rated capa-
city of 35,00.0 tons. It employs about 60 persons.

The company in 1960 entered the growing West Coast market for its pro-
ducts by acquiring plants in Los Angeles and Seattle. Among the many users
of the firm's products in the far West are the aircraft and missile industries.

The Los Angeles facility covers 27,666 square feet. Its annual rated
capacity is 48,000 net tons and it employs 25 persons. The Seattle plant is
14,400 square feet in size, has an annual capacity of 4,000 tons and employs
15 persons.

From the original annual capacity of 12,000 tons the firm in 1948 pro-
duced 325,000 tons and today the production figure has reached more than
550,000 tons. In 1961 company sales totaled more than $50,000,000 and its net
assets were nearly $21,000,000.

Bliss and Laughlin customers today total more than 5,000 representing all
of the nation's major industries. Its stockholders number 3,928 in 49 states and
foreign countries. Its parent plant in Harvey now occupies a site of 242,305
feet, has an annual rated capacity of 235,000 tons and employs about 400
persons.

Its products are used for a wide variety of purposes including: the beaters
for kitchen food mixers, the hex nut for a spark plug, the wheel assembly for
an airplane, the carriage return bar for a typewriter. They have other dramatic
applications in space vehicles and atomic energy, as well as home washing ma-
chines and industrial drill presses.

INGALL-SHEPARD DIVISION
WYMAN-GORDON COMPANY

A notion to retire by two men, Frederick A. Ingalls and Charles G.
Shepard, led, strangely, to the founding of what is one of Harvey's largest and
most widely-known industrial firms.

Founders of the Buda Company which moved to Harvey from Buda, Illi-
nois, in 1890, the two men decided in 1906 to sell their business with the idea
of retiring. Being ambitious they suddenly discovered "they were too much a
Dart of business and business too much a part of them, to enjoy their newly-
found leisure" and returned to the industrial field to found a small forging
:>lant.

Located at the site of the old Bellaire Stamping Works which had burned
o the ground on New Year's Eve in 1900, the firm, equipped with two drop
lammers and three steam hammers manned by thirteen employees, occupied a
building about a hundred feet square. Ground was broken for the factory on
March 15, 1910 and it was ready to go into operation as the Ingalls-Shepard
Forging Company in June of the same year.

Charles Batt, a one-time Harvey alderman of the Fourth Ward, was the
first foreman of the die shop and George Weiss supervised the hammer shop.

The first forging to come from the firm's hammers was a spike used by the
F. C. Austin Manufacturing Company for its road rollers, used to tear up hard
■oad surfaces.

99

As time passed the versatility of the firm increased and numbered among
its products such items as railway signals, parts for tractors and agricultural
implements and, finally, crankshafts for automobiles which were coming into
wide usage. Its line was to become even more diversified during World War I
when parts were forged for trucks, tanks, gun carriages and crankshafts for the
famed Liberty engines of the day. By this time plant facilities had been greatly
expanded, covering more than seven acres.

Wyman-Gordon, now the parent company, had been a business enterprise
in Worcester, Massachusetts from 1883, but by 1918, when war production
had opened up vast new business horizons because of the emergence of the
airplane, the firm found itself without room to pioneer in the new field.

Because of competition being afforded by automobile firms in the area of
Detroit, Michigan, the management realized it must seek facilities in the Mid-
dle West, and thus the merging of the Ingalls-Shepard Forging Company and
the Wyman-Gordon Company was effected.

By December, 1919, details were completed, but with the merger Mr.
Shepard retired once again. Mr. Ingalls became a vice president of the Wyman-.
Gordon Company, his son-in-law? Samuel M. Havens, became the assistant
treasurer and manager of the Harvey plant, and Harold F. Wood was em-
ployed as chief metallurgist in the firm's laboratory.

Thus was born the Ingalls-Shepard Division of the Wyman-Gordon Compa-
ny, and in a few short years it was well on its way to becoming the largest
crankshaft factory in the world.

There are several facets in the history of the factory that are worthy of
recording.

Once the factory had been surrounded by a fence Miss Jean Ingalls, daugh-
ter of the founder who subsequently became the wife of Samuel M. Havens,
established what became a "very famous garden" in the back of the plant in
an area that was later to become a steel storage yard. It is recorded that the
garden was established according to blueprint, that planting techniques de-
pended on the moon and that as a result of this venture, Miss Ingalls and her
mother came to be regarded as a part of the working force.

Records reveal that one of the outstanding days in the firm's history came
in the summer of 1916 when the first annual employee picnic was held in
Calumet Grove in Blue Island. Ingalls-Shepard was one of the first industries
in the community to sponsor such an event, and, significantly, it is an annual
affair looked forward to even today by employees of the firm and their families.

Another event remembered by early employees came in 1919 when they
donned brown aprons to look like blacksmiths and entered the Labor Day
parade as a unit. They even furnished their own music, with Charles C. Shepard
pounding the bass drum. Another part of the entry was a truck appropriately!
decorated and carrying a remarkable simile of a furnace in which could bei
seen the red hot metal from which crankshafts were forged.

Early documents record that even before its merger with Wyman-Gordon |
the firm had reached a prominent position in the manufacturing field "due
largely to the energy, foresight, unusual sales ability and personality of Mr.
Ingalls and Mr. Shepard."

Among the executives who were to guide the destiny of the firm after the I
merger was Harry G. Stoddard who was elected president of the company in
1931, twenty years after he had bought stock and become actively associated
with the company.

In 1932 Mr. Ingalls retired from the active role he had played in the!;
company and moved to California where he died on December 13, 1938. Inl

100

the same year Mr. Wood was made works manager and Mr. Havens became
the vice president.

The Harvey plant had been considerably enlarged in 1930, but because
of the depression little use was found for the added space. However, the con-
clusion of that period of panic saw the entire facilities utilized. By 1937 an
enlargement of the heat-treating facilities became necessary and simultaneously
a service building was added.

Through the years Ingalls-Shepard built up an enviable reputation in the
industrial field for its understanding of the work, force and in matters of wages,
vacations and other benefits its liberality became widely known. This included
sponsorship of many employee activities such as athletic teams, picnics, and
later a tremendous Christmas party which is attended annually by employees
and their families.

Just as in World War I, the company played an important role in war pro-
duction for the second world conflict. It is especially significant that it was
Wyman-Gordon forgings which helped make the two great airplanes of the
war — the Boeing B17 Flying Fortress and the Consolidated B24 Liberator —
such potent factors.

The company kept pace with the myriad new aircraft which followed the
conclusion of hostilities in 1945 and today its research specialists are thinking
in terms of the future as well as the present. Presently geared for the compli-
cated demands of jets, rockets and missiles its engineers are, nevertheless, think-
ing in terms of "flight out of the atmosphere more than flight in it."

Change in the executive department of the company transpired in 1955
when Mr. Harry Stoddard became chairman of the board of directors and his
son Robert, who had joined the company ranks in 1929, was named to the
presidency, an office he still holds.

Today, with a total of almost 4,000 employees, fine management and de-
voted employees help the firm maintain its place of pre-eminence in the
forging field.

ALLIS CHALMERS MANUFACTURING CO.
FORMERLY THE BUDA COMPANY

The Buda Company was originally established in 1881 in Buda, Illinois, a
small town about 50 miles north of Peoria. In the beginning the company
manufactured only railroad supplies. In 1890? the entire factory was moved to
Harvey, the site being chosen because of its advantageous facilities. By locating
at the junction of the Illinois Central, Baltimore and Ohio and Grand Trunk
railroads the new company could be directly served by these three railroads.

In the earlier period of its existence, those years antedating the gasoline
engine era, the products of the Buda Company consisted mainly of railroad
supplies of all kinds and in this field the company maintained a leading posi-
tion for many years, numbering among its customers all of the large railroads
in the United States and practically all of the small lines, in addition to
thousands of industrial companies.

In 1910 the possibilities of a rapid development of the automotive industry
were recognized by the management, and it was decided to enter this field
with a line of high quality gas and gasoline engines for trucks, busses, taxicabs
and agricultural, marine and industrial purposes. In 1926 the company began
the manufacture of its first Diesel engines for industrial equipment, marine

101

service, generating sets and power units for various portable and stationary
requirements. A large new factory building with new equipment throughout
was provided for this purpose.

An important step was taken in 1933, when the Lanova type of "controlled
turbulence" combustion system was incorporated in the complete line of Buda
Diesels. The Lanova system became recognized as one of the outstanding
achievements in diesel history. The year 1933 also saw the beginning of a new
line of Buda automotive type Diesel engines for trucks and busses.

Many new Buda products were added to the list in 1938. Some of these in-
cluded the Buda "Chore Boy" — a small industrial truck; a complete line of
quality hydraulic and screw jacks of all types; and a special adaptation of four
and six cylinder Diesels for replacing gasoline engines in Ford trucks.

This year the firm startled the automotive and aviation industries by the
announcement of a new lightweight Diesel engine, a development which tech-
nical experts throughout the country claimed would be the next really big im-
provement in American aviation as well as in ground transportation. The Buda
plant went into full production making these aircraft engines for the United
States government to be used in tanks as a part of an accelerated national de-
fense program.

In addition to producing the new radial-type Diesel engine, the Buda
Company at one time had in production 12 different models of standard type
Diesel engines and 26 different models of gasoline and natural gas engines.
These Buda engines were used in all types of applications, principally in six
major industries, automotive, marine, stationary industrial, portable industrial,
oil fields and generator sets.

Another development of Buda's that attracted nation-wide interest was an
earth boring machine supplied to the United States Army. This drill, a develop-
ment of a Buda engineer, Hugh Brown, was used extensively by the Army for
drilling under roadways and bridge approaches preparatory to the placing of
land mines and anti-tank traps, etc. In other words, this machine formed a part
of the Army's equipment for defense against blitzkrieg type of warfare.

From its inception the Buda Company made consistent growth. It normal-
ly employed approximately 1200 men. The plant in 1940 occupied 500,000
square feet of floor space, including a $300,000 addition for the Guibe'rson
airplane division.

In 1953, after a long and successful period of operation, the company was
sold to its present owner, the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Inc., a
giant in the modern industrial field, whose home plant and offices are located
in West Allis, Wisconsin. At the time of sale, the Buda Company had grown
to a plant consisting of about 25 buildings occupying 654,446 square feet of
floor space and encompassing 2SYi acres of land. The new owners christened
their acquisition as the Harvey Works.

The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company presently consists of 17 plants
in the United States, plus other plants in Canada, England, France, Australia,
Italy and Mexico. Products number in the hundreds, from lift trucks and en-
gines, manufactured in Harvey, to giant nuclear reactors in other of its factories.

In 1958 an engineering and development center was added to the Harvey
facilities, the addition consisting of three buildings for the design and develop-
ment of engines and fork lift trucks.

This structure provides Allis-Chalmers engineers with one of the most
modern facilities of its kind and it is here that new developments in the firm's
diversified lines are created. Equipment enables engineers to study the results
of their designs before the product goes into production.

102

In 1961 the company completed an engine production plant 1,100 feet in
length and 440 feet wide. It is a one-story steel beam and cement structure
with penthouses for electricity, heating and ventilation equipment. It permits
the company to manufacture a broad line of diesel, natural gas, butane and
gasoline engines which are used to power company products sold in the con-
struction machinery, farm equipment and material handling fields. In addition,
sales are made to such industries as construction, marine, oil, irrigation, logging
and many others.

Electrical generator sets produced in the new plant are used to supply elec-
tric power in thousands of locations throughout the world. Generators from the
Harvey Works supplied power at "tracking stations" which played such an im-
portant role in the historic orbital flight around the world of Colonel John
Glenn in early 1962. These generators have been supplying power at radar
stations in the nation's defense network and similar sets are to be used as part
of America's missile program.

The new engine plant almost doubles the productive capacity of the old
facilities and increases the company's Harvey manufacturing area to 1,150,000
square feet.

ILLINOIS BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY

Little formal history is obtainable on the development of the Illinois Bell
Telephone Company in this city. The company itself is unable to furnish early
data and details are meager.

However, the first telephone exchange in Harvey was located in the drug
store of J. W. Oliver and it was fitting that the Oliver firm be granted telephone
number one, which it retained until the advent of the dial phone system in-
stalled here in October, 1955.

Other early numbers included: Harvey Fire Department, Number 0; Flew-
elling's store, number two; Dr. Walvoord of South Holland, number four; Wil-
liam D. Rogers, number six; John Alten, number ten; Harvey Police Depart-
ment, number 13; W. E. Kerr and Company, numbers 16 and 17; G. W.
Roberts, number 18, and the Grand Trunk Railroad, number 20.

Originally, the Chicago Telephone Company established its office here on
March 10, 1891, with J. W. Oliver serving a dual role as telephone exchange
manager and druggist. He retained the managership when the telephone ex-
change was moved on February 10, 1904 to the second floor at 189 East 154th
Street.

Telephone service was considered a luxury for many years and even as
late as December 31, 1900, only 41 subscribers were listed here. However, in
the subsequent five years the subscriber list had grown to 249.

In 1904 A. C. Rhoades was named manager and it was while he was in
charge that the company, on August 22, 1914, converted from the old "hand-
crank" type of telephone instrument to a battery-operated system. That same
year, the company moved its facilities to 15428 Center Avenue, where it re-
mained until the construction of the huge modern building at 15321 Center
Avenue. In the meantime, on July 1, 1946, the plant and offices were sep-
arated and a business office opened at 15422 Center Avenue.

After 1905, demand for telephone service increased rapidly, and company
records reveal that growth in terms of subscribers as follows: 1910 - 526; 1915 -
790; 1920-1152; 1925-1990; 1930-3350 1935-3662; 1940-3762.

103

Twenty-one years later, in 1961, the total telephones in service at the
Harvey exchange was 33,739. In that same year a total of 27,605,000 calls were
routed through the local office. Total customers now being served is 28,400.

Other milestones in the Illinois Bell history in Harvey include the installa-
tion of the dial system in 1954, construction of a new accounting center at
153rd and Main Streets on June 16, 1955, and the construction in October of
the same year of the new district office and plant facility at 15321 Center
Avenue.

104

INSTITUTIONS

105

106

UNITED STATES POST OFFICE

Although it has been previously recorded that the first Harvey postmaster
was William H. Pease, subsequent investigation reveals that the first postmaster
of South Lawn, as Harvey was first known, was Frank O. Young, who was ap-
pointed on August 22, 1881, and served until March 4, 1890 when Mr. Pease
received the appointment.

Mr. Pease, whom history credits with having named the city, held the
postmastership at three different intervals — first from 1890 to 1892, the sec-
ond from 1903 to 1915, and third from 1921 to 1927.

Other postmasters were Daniel W. Turney, 1892-1895; J. J. O'Rourke,
1895-1899; M. A. Gillson, 1899-1903. Mr. O'Rourke then re-assumed the
postmastership in 1915 and served until 1921. After Mr. Pease's third term the
position was held by George Sutton from 1927 to 1936.

It was during the Gillson term that city home delivery was established. Mr.
Gillson died in office and was succeeded by Mr. Pease, who served his first
two terms during the administration of President Roosevelt and his third during
that of President Howard Taft.

From 1903, after the post office had occupied various buildings, until 1933
it was located at 153rd Street and Columbia Avenue, the site now of the
American Legion clubrooms. On April 1, 1933, it was moved into the present
Federal Building at 15441 Center Avenue.

George Sutton became the first Harvey postmaster under Civil Service
when he assumed the position on January 17, 1928, but in 1936 he was suc-
ceeded by Joseph S. Flaherty, who had previously served as the police magistrate
in Harvey. Mr. Flaherty held the post until he died in 1941 when he was suc-
ceeded by Frank G. Ring, who for the period of 1934-1936 had served as a
member of the Illinois Legislature.

Mr. Ring was succeeded in 1954 by Alfred St. Aubin who for many years
had served as the assistant postmaster. Mr. St. Aubin's term as postmaster
culminated with his retirement on August 31, 1960. His retirement brought to a
conclusion 42 years of service at the Harvey post office, the longest any indi-
vidual has served here, although Anthony Caproni, a present employee, is in a
position to exceed the St. Aubin record as this document is being written.

Upon Mr. St. Aubin's retirement the postmastership went to Stanley G.
Kay, who served in an acting capacity for a period of seven months. In 1961
the appointment went to Floyd R. Chapin, who is the present postmaster.

The post office has grown and its services expanded as the steady growth
of the community has warranted and as of this date plans are nearly complete
for expanding the present building on property purchased adjacent to it on
155th Street.

INGALLS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Realizing the need for a community hospital, Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Ingalls
purchased ground and inaugurated plans for the erection of such a building in
the early 1920's. A vice president of the Ingalls-Shepard Division of the Wy-
man-Gordon Company, one of Harvey's pioneer industrial firms, Mr. Ingalls
shared with his wife an intense interest in community welfare.

However, Mrs. Ingalls did not live to see her dream realized because of her
death while plans were in the formative stage. Her work was carried on, how-
ever, by Mr. Ingalls and their daughter, Mrs. Jean Ingalls Havens, and the
institution was erected as a memorial to Mrs. Ingalls for her "interest in her

107

fellow men and the spirit of helpfulness which characterized her life."

Both the grounds and the buildings were personal gifts of Mr. Ingalls, but
much of the furnishings were the result of gifts by many Harvey industries,
civic and fraternal organizations.

Equipment for the X-Ray Department was maintained by the Ingalls
family throughout their lives.

From the beginning, the highest standards of hospital care have been main-
tained.

First of a long line of chiefs of staff was Dr. Thomas A. Noble. Serving on
the board of trustees were: Mr. Ingalls, Dr. G. A. Stevenson, George H. Gib-
son, J. H. Whiting, W. T. Beatty and L. M. Viles.

Of Georgian design, the hospital had the most modern accommodations
possible to obtain and a most pleasant atmosphere for patients was created by
Mrs. Havens.

Mr. Ingalls and his daughter were the guiding spirits for the hospital for
many years, but working closely with them was Miss Clara Pound, who arrived
here several months before the building's completion. As superintendent, Miss
Pound discharged the great responsibility of organizing the hospital staff.

The depression years of the early 1930's were most trying. When financial
institutions closed, the hospital's funds were frozen. To complicate the situa-
tion outstanding bills and payrolls totaled $1 1,000.

It was again Mrs. Havens whose efforts enabled the hospital to weather the
storm. An appeal to her father in California brought immediate response and
the obligations were discharged by him from personal funds.

However, there were dark days yet to come and when Mrs. Havens met
with the board of trustees it was decided there was no alternative but to close
the institution.

It was at this point that the hospital staff, upon suggestion by Mrs. Havens,
agreed to keep the doors open although it meant salary decreases or, possibly,
no salary at all until the crisis had passed. But it was this devotion and sacrifice
that enabled Ingalls hospital to overcome the obstacle. Mrs. Havens continued
as a tireless worker in the struggle to maintain solvency and it is recorded in
hospital annals that she worked six days a week over many years to achieve
this objective.

The financial difficulty hurdled, the hospital was to face additional prob-
lems as the nation entered World War II. Many new problems arose — shortage
of equipment and supplies, primarily. Because the United States was girding
for an all-out war effort, shortages of vital material multiplied and it became
impossible to maintain the high standards of hospital care that had become a
tradition.

It was at this point that Mrs. Havens came to the decision that the institu-
tion must become a community responsibility.

Thus, in the organizational change that became necessary, John Bardwick,
Jr. was named to head the institution as president. Later he became chairman
of the Board of Trustees and in this role he provided the leadership that culmi-
nated in numerous changes and, subsequently, national recognition of the
hospital.

Of Mr. Bardwick's administration Mrs. Havens said in 1955: "His leader-
ship has been superb. Having governed the hospital for 16 years prior to his
term, I appreciate how really wonderful his work has been. He commands the
respect and confidence of all and as the only remaining member of the Ingalls
family I wish to convey our deep appreciation. He has done something for the
community that no one else could have done."

108

Upon assuming the hospital leadership Mr. Bardwick was faced almost im-
mediately with the problem of raising funds for renovation and re-equipping to
return it again to the desired standards.

One of his first moves was to name an administrator, and L. C. Mortrud
assumed the position in 1948. His first task was one of reorganization and re-
modeling. This was accomplished during the next decade after a minute study
of the myriad problems. However, better allocation of existing space resulted
in increasing the hospital's rated bed capacity from 88 beds and 25 bassinets to
1 15 beds and 32 bassinets.

A program of public education to create support and understanding of the
hospital's needs and the important role it plays in the welfare of the community
was undertaken. As a result, industries, organizations and individuals responded
with generous contributions so that the work might go forward. The financial
structure was studied and efforts directed toward providing a business-like
operation which would result in a self-sustaining institution and yet provide for
a fund to meet depreciation costs.

The progress toward the objectives was almost meteoric under John Bard-
wick's leadership, devotion and inspiration.

Patients' rooms were modernized and decorated in pastel colors, cubical
screens were installed in all wards, work areas in all nurses' stations were re-
furbished and re-equipped. Stainless steel replaced old enamel utensils, greater
efficiency and cleanliness were achieved. All available space was utilized through
re-arranging and remodeling.

Another major portion of the program was the renovation of the surgical
suite. Stainless steel equipment replaced the original furnishings and the most
modern lighting system was installed. Safety light switches were added and
telephone equipment was replaced.

The growth of the hospital is evident in the greater number of patients
served. In 1949 the census was 4,449, a figure that increased to 8,214 just five
years later. Emergency room cases in the former year of 879 increased to
1,544. Number of babies born increased from 1,041 in 1949 to 1,835 in 1954.

Other important changes in the hospital operation during the period were:
modernization of the X-Ray Department, employment of a full-time radiologist,
creation of a Women's Auxiliary to assist through volunteer services, the estab-
lishment of blood banks, installation of a new and completely equipped phar-
macy made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Leo Sample as a memorial to their son,
Leo Sample, Jr.. installation of a new heating system.

Cost of the improvements exceeded $600,000 over a period of six years.

Another significant advance was the accreditation of Ingalls Memorial
Hospital by the American Hospital Association after a survey in 1953 by the
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals.

Ingalls Memorial Hospital attained nationwide prominence in the same
year when it was selected to represent the voluntary community hospital in the
United States as a model of modern day hospital management and medical
practice control in hospitals of comparable size. As a result, the hospital was
visited by administrators from throughout the United States for the purpose of
studying the methods employed. Even today, Ingalls Memorial Hospital serves
as annual host to such a visit.

In 1954 a school for the training of medical technologists was opened in
the clinical laboratory, which the year prior had been placed under the super-
vision of a full-time pathologist.

By 1955 the physical and operational changes under the John Bardwick
administration had been accomplished at a cost of $1,167,000. It was during

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this period also that a dental staff was created, bylaws and regulations con-
cerning all phases of the hospital's operation were established, self-government
of the medical staff was granted within legal limitations, a fire protection pro-
gram inaugurated and Women's Auxiliary organized.

Under its current physical structure, Ingalls by 1956 was utilizing its fa-
cilities to the maximum. That year 2,200 babies were born, more than 22,000
patients and out patients had been served. More than 10,000 free polio shots
were administered when the hospital cooperated in a mass immunization pro-
gram following the development of the Salk vaccine.

Organizational changes included the election of Herman C. Hoekstra as
president of the Board of Trustees. John Bardwick was named chairman and
Guy T. Avery vice chairman of the board.

Detailed plans were made for hospital expansion when the demand for
hospital service reached a point where it became necessary to bed patients in
the halls. In 1957 contracts were awarded for building the new facilities and
in June ground was broken for an addition.

It was in this year that the institution underwent another, but different type
of crisis — a tremendous flood which necessitated its complete evacuation. Loss
of materials and income was estimated at $70,000, but after a concentrated
cleaning-up program it re-opened a week later.

The four-story addition, completed in 1959, almost doubled the bed capacity
of the hospital. Yet, as this history is being written it is significant to note that
despite the tremendous expansion, the constant growth of the institution in
three short years has been cause for considerable discussion by the Board of
Trustees toward undergoing still another building project.

HARVEY MEMORIAL
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

An idea presented at a meeting of the Harvey Association of Commerce
and Industry on February 5, 1942 culminated in the erection of the imposing
Harvey Memorial Young Men's Christian Association building which today
occupies the southeast corner of 155th Street and Center Avenue.

Discussions at that meeting at which John Bardwick, Jr., president of the
ACI, was the presiding officer, centered around the need for a community
center for use by all Harvey residents.

Also present at the session were a number of community leaders including:
Howard Grant, president of the Whiting Corporation; A. Myron Lambert, Jr.,
publisher of the Harvey Tribune; Henry C. Piel, attorney; Leo Sample, partner,
Oliver Drug Co.; Paul Soenksen, owner, the Eagle Store; George Tesar, partner,
Bastar Jewelry store; Dr. William E. McVey, superintendent, Thornton Town-
ship high school and Junior College; Harry Lillengren, president of Bliss and
Laughlin, Inc.; Foss P. Miller, assistant treasurer, Ingalls-Shepard Division of
the Wyman-Gordon Company; George F. Thies, vice president, the First Na-
tional Bank in Harvey.

It was Mr. Lillengren who first suggested the possibility of establishing a
YMCA branch here and, after a series of meetings, a local survey by the Illinois
YMCA was authorized.

ACI President Bardwick named a committee to explore the extent to which
local industry might participate financially. Members of that committee were
Samuel M. Havens of the Wyman-Gordon Company; chairman, Mr. Lillengren;

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David H. Daskal, president of the Perfection Gear Company; and J. Stanley
Dempesy, president of the Buda Company, who was regarded at that time as
the spokesman for Harvey industry.

This committee reported on January 7, 1943 that a branch of the YMCA
would appear to fulfill Harvey's need and a steering committee with Dr. Will-
iam E. McVey as chairman was named. Other members were Walter Nagell,
Mr. Dempesy and Mr. Soenksen, although shortly thereafter the committee
was expanded to 21 members.

In September this committee officially expressed a preference for the estab-
lishment of a YMCA branch and on September 10th, A. R. Freeman of the
Illinois YMCA came to the community to discuss the possibilities.

Frank Hathaway, general secretary of the Chicago YMCA later pointed out
the advantages of a YMCA on September 21, 1943, and indicated that if the
city could raise a total of $250,000 the Chicago YMCA would double that
amount for the erection of a $750,000 building.

In October of the same year the board of the Chicago kY" met with the
local committee and at that point the plans jelled.

A building committee consisting of W. H. Hammer, Henry C. Piel and
William D. O'Hara announced the purchase of the site at 155th Street and
Center Avenue in October, 1944.

Some financial difficulty presented itself when the city was within $25,000
of reaching its $250,000 quota. In the interim building costs had risen rapidly
and after considerable study it was determined that the original amount would
not suffice. Harvey found it necessary to raise an additional $75,000.

On July 24, 1945 detailed plans for the building and working drawings
were presented to the local YMCA Board of Directors of which Paul Soenk-
sen was chairman. At this time it was reported that the community had raised
$267,363 in pledges to the building fund.

The benefits of a YMCA program of activity were first presented to the
community on April 22, 1948 despite the fact that ground had not yet been
broken for the proposed building. A two-story brick building on the site the
"Y" had purchased became the headquarters; Victor H. Rompel was named
executive secretary and John O. Root as program director. Mr. Rompel had
become widely acquainted in the city because of his activity during the fund
campaign.

First word that a building was in the offing came on September 28, 1948
when it was announced that construction would get under way the following
year. Meantime, the YMCA fund had grown to $490,500, largely because of
earnings on investments.

The Chicago YMCA also had announced a pledge of $600,000 for the
floors in the building that were to be used for residential purposes. Thus the
building fund went over $1,000,000.

Despite the size of the fund, financial problems continued to present them-
selves because of the constant increases in the cost of construction. Harvey
learned that it would be required to raise another $128,000 but also that the
Chicago YMCA would add another $222,000. Meantime, Mr. Rompel resigned
his Harvey position and he was succeeded by Program Director Root.

A contract for what was to become a $2,500,000 structure was let on
January 14, 1951 and ground was broken on March 12.

The YMCA program of activity expanded consistently when the construc-
tion of the building was in progress, setting the stage for Dedication Week,
April 19 through 26, 1953, at which time the building was formally opened for
occupancy.

1 11

The six story structure has since served not only the residents of the City
of Harvey but those in adjacent communities.

The executive directorship of Memorial YMCA has gone through periodic
changes. Following Mr. Root came Ivan H. Smith, who served from April 1,
1954 to September 26, 1959; Daniel Schaeffer from September to December
1959; Robert H. Freitag, December 16, 1959 to the present.

Memorial YMCA has had the benefits of exceptional lay leadership and
there are many civically minded individuals who have made noteworthy con-
tributions, both financial and moral. Included in this group are those who have
served as chairmen of the board of directors. Each has provided the leader-
ship that has made possible the success of the YMCA as a community center.

Those who have served as chairmen are: Paul W. Soenksen, 1944-1946;
David W. Daskal, 1947-48; Dr. William E. McVey, 1949-50; Henry C. Piel,
1951-53; Dr. August R. Anderson, 1954-55; Dr. Harold C. Drummond,
1956-57; Arthur E. Christian, 1958-60; Robert H. Reese, 1961-62.

It should be noted also that Mrs. A. Myron Lambert, Jr. who has been
active in the entire area of YMCA work since the founding of the branch here,
also brought distinction to the local association when she was elected to serve
as a member of the Chicago Board of Managers, the first woman in the history
of the Chicago YMCA to be so honored.

HARVEY HEALTH CENTER

The Harvey Health Center had its beginning in 1919 when it was established
here by the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute in the basement of the public library.

Services consisted of monthly chest clinics administered by a full-time
nurse. The center was partly supported by the Public Welfare and Health
Association, but this association was dissolved in 1927.

With the depression came the need for an increase in such services and in
1931 the Harvey Relief organization assumed a share of the financial obliga-
tions. The Health Center moved into the relief headquarters and the organiza-
tions worked as a unit.

In 1933 the Cook County Public Welfare Department took over the entire
task of administering unemployment relief and as a result no provision was
made for nursing services. Because of this situation a committee was named to
raise funds for the purpose of conducting health work in the city. The name
was changed to the Harvey Health Council and the office was moved into the
city hall.

The Health council became an agency of the Harvey Community Chest for
the first time in 1935 and the council was its chief financial support for the suc-
ceeding 22 years.

In 1936 the need for dental care among medically indigent families first
came to attention and the Center's Board of Directors proceeded to acquire
dental equipment and arrange for a clinic and a dentist with the cooperation of
the Cook County Department of Public Health. Dr. S. N. Gould has served as
the dentist for 21 years.

In 1956 a dental clinic for high school students was inaugurated. A dentist
was employed by the center to serve the clinic through the school year.

In 1960 the Center became an agency of the United Fund which replaced
the Community Chest. New, modern dental equipment was purchased, an
X-ray room was set up and other equipment added. A panel of seven Harvey
doctors began operating the high school clinic. It became possible to furnish
partial dentures where necessary.

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The Health Center is governed by a board of directors of 21 local people.
Currently it has a well-equipped office, a full-time nurse, plus the dental clinic.

The dental clinic is its greatest single service. Children of families, unable
to pay for such services, are sent to the Center by appointment of the school
nurses, although need is determined before children are accepted as patients.
More than 100 had dental work completed in 1961.

Other services provided by the Center include: continued medication for
clinic out-patients or patients discharged from hospitals, but only when no
other source is available to the individual; a nurses' file of registered and
practical nurses to fill requests for home nursing care; a referral service through
which requests are channeled to the proper agency; dispensing of health infor-
mation; social welfare service through which temporary assistance is given to
local families until the proper agency assumes the obligation; clearing house
service for organizations distributing Christmas baskets to the needy.

The nurse presently in charge of the Health Center is Mrs. Rose Abraham.

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

When Troop Number One was organized by Harwell Thompson, member
of a pioneer Harvey family, at the First Methodist Church it marked the be-
ginning of the Boy Scout movement in Harvey. At that stage the Scoutmaster
was the person around whom activity revolved.

His myriad duties included providing the youths with their basic training,
checking them out on advancement tests, serving as transportation manager
and as an individual board of review.

Originally, Scouting was conducted on more or less a haphazard basis and
it was not until 1923 that its popularity with the youth of the city began to in-
crease.

Troop One had remained in existence at the Methodist church with Karl
Treen serving as Scoutmaster and Benjamin J. Sachs as his assistant. Members
of the Troop committee were George Stevens, Harry W. Baker, William Lahde,
Clinton Baker and Paul Curtis.

The first 28 Scouts to be enrolled were William Andrews, Fahne Dante,
Patrick Mahin, Robert McKay, Graydon Dean, Rayburn Haines, Carl Walther,
Lawrence Craig, James Shipe, Bernard Wilson, Harry Boland, Jr., Harris Loy
Dante, William Matthies, Clarence Lahde, Theodore Felgen, Rowland Hughes,
Jack and Carroll Lenox, Arthur Turngren, Arthur Collins, Ralph Shepard, F.
W. Walter, Wendell Romine, Harry Sweeney, Ralph Petit and Lawrence
Warren.

Eventually, Karl Treen was succeeded as Scoutmaster by Carl Keller who
passed all Scout tests and eventually won Eagle rank. He was succeeded by
James D. Logsdon, now superintendent of Thornton Township High School
and Junior College, who also won Eagle Scout ranking.

Troop One had a lasting influence on the Scout movement here but later it
was divided into two troops, numbers 76 and 276. It contributed heavily to
the Scoutmaster ranks, among those serving in that capacity being Clarence
Lahde, Graydon Dean and Clifford Shipe.

Others who provided leadership for the Scouts through the years were
Henry Heideman, Milton Waterman, Frederick Beck, a Mr. Franks, Dclbert
Parker, Carl Stouga, Edward Beinor, Louis Boudreau, Frank C. Norton, Herbert
Pelke, G. C. Showalter, Ben W. Hughes, John Ott, William Ebert, Jr.

Scouting has been made possible in a large degree by the institutions who

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sponsor troops. Among these civic-minded groups are: First Methodist Church,
First Lutheran Church, First Baptist Church, First Christian Church, the
Church of God, the Federated Church, the Academy Methodist Church, the
Harvey Police Department, Elks, Kiwanis and Optimist Clubs, Loyal Order of
Moose, the Bryant, Whittier and Washington schools, Ascension Holy Name
Society, the American Legion and the West Side Civic Club, Garcia Moreno
Council Knights of Columbus, the Riverside Community Improvement Asso-
ciation.

In 1937 with the reorganization of Potawatomi Trails Council, Harvey be-
came an important center of activity. Harvey itself had a mere 100 Scouts, a
figure that is well over 400 at the present time.

Troops here have had a representative share of Scouts with the rank of
Eagle, the highest Scouting can confer. Among them are: George Lytle, Melvin
Peebles, Charles Boysen, William Munro, Jerry Nelson, John Wagner, Earl
Bishop, Alfred Olson, Robert Sparks, William Edwards, Daniel Egan, Edward
Sparks, John Murphy, David Sparks, William Wegener, James Walenga, James
Schiltz, Ronald Celbuski, Rodney Iwema, Jack Schiltz, Eugene Peerbolte,
Thomas Spindler, Philip Carvey, William Elliott, Michael Krol, Jr., Douglas
Diggle, Carl Keeler, James D. Logsdon.

Rodney Iwema has received the Silver Award as has Graydon Dean.

HARVEY GIRL SCOUTS

Girl Scouts have been active in Harvey for over 25 years. The first Council
was chartered in June of 1936, with Mrs. Stanley W. Graff serving as the first
commissioner. That year the first Day Camp, Camp Innisfree, was operated in
Jurgenson's Grove, Thornton, serving 75 campers.

In 1948, when Mrs. Oscar Coffey was President of the Council, Harvey
joined with seven other suburban communities to form the present South Cook
County Girl Scout Council, Inc.

In 1948 the total membership was just over 1,000 girls and adults. In 1962,
the Council includes over 60 communities and serves 10,000 girls and 4,000
adults. Today 12 Day Camps are operated, serving 2,000 girls — a troop camp
at Camp Thorn Creek, Thornton, accommodates better than 6,000 yearly;
and the Council owns and operates an established camp, Camp Manistee, near
Montague, Michigan, with a capacity of 166 campers.

Girl Scouting has as its purpose — instilling in girls the highest ideals of
character, conduct, patriotism and service.

Council headquarters are at 157 East 155th Street.

THE HARVEY LITTLE LEAGUE

Perhaps no local program for boys has had greater success or is more im-
portant than the Harvey Little Baseball League, proposed by a local resident,
James Skamarak, in late 1949.

The idea was warmly received and a series of meetings in February of 1950
resulted in concrete plans for organizing a league here on the principles laid
down by the national organization.

The first officers elected were headed by Anthony Fraggos, president.
Others were: William Turnbull, vice president; Wilbur Kuhlman, treasurer,
and James Skamarak, secretary.

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However, there were many other men as deeply interested in the program
and what it would do for the youth of the community. Their assistance was of
extreme importance in laying a foundation that has resulted in a well-organized,
smoothly functioning organization that has provided competition and a basic
athletic education for hundreds of grade school boys.

Among those who made major contributions were, besides the officers:
William McLaren, Gene Des Lauriers, Harry Raiman, Roy Hansen, Vernon
Johnson, William Bearman, Garnett Lybe, Carl Mendenhall, Edward Johnson,
Albert Boudreau, and many others.

Major problems were the obtaining of a playing site and the securing of
sponsors for the teams to be organized. The Harvey Park District, headed by
president William Hayes, enabled the league to overcome the first obstacle
when it agreed to give the Little League exclusive use of the property at 151st
Street and Lexington Avenue, upon which was to rise one of the most modern
physical plants devoted to Little League baseball in the Midwest.

The sponsor problem was also solved with little difficulty and the Harvey
Optimist Club, Harvey Moose Lodge, Harvey Steelworkers Club, the com-
bined Harvey industrial firms, the Elks Lodge and Ascension church made the
formation of six-team league possible.

Likewise, many individuals and business establishments contributed gen-
erously to the erection of a playing field on the Park District site.

In the first year of its existence the league made organized baseball available
to more than 350 boys, a total that has expanded greatly through the years, both
in participating individuals and in numbers of teams. It is also significant that
the activity has provided as much entertainment and excitement for thousands
of adults, as well as the participants, either as fans, or as umpires, managers or
assistant managers.

As years passed many more adults became interested in the activity, and
took over as others left for various reasons. These included such men as James
Turnbull, Edward Phalen, Douglas True, Robert Blonquist, Henry Koopman,
Everett Schurr, Verle Hudson, Charles Walls, John Blair, Jerry Zweifel, Richard
Weisbrodt, Howard McMorris, Wayne Ladewig, I. Behm, Wilbur Hallmann.

A program of continuous improvement in the facilities resulted in the erec-
tion of a grand stand in 1954 with all labor being furnished free by interested
adults. A refreshment stand and press box were added in 1957 and a lighting
system to make evening play possible was installed in 1959.

Expenses of the league are met by sponsors' fees, fence advertising, booster
cards, donations taken at the games and profits from the refreshment stand
which is operated by the Little League Women's auxiliary.

Growth of the league is noted in the increase of the teams from six to
twelve between 1950 and 1961, the formation of 16 "minor league" teams
where boys receive formal coaching to prepare them for a place in the bigger
league upon reaching the proper age, the construction of a second diamond at
161st Street and Finch Avenue. Forty youths are enrolled in a training pro-
gram. The entire league structure involves almost 600 boys.

The teams are now divided into two leagues and winners play each year for
the city championship with the winner receiving the Whiting Corporation
trophy.

Equally important in the successful operation of the league is the Ladies'
auxiliary which was organized in 1955 with Mrs. Wayne Ladewig as the
first president. Its major contribution is in manning the refreshment stand, re-
ceipts of which go into the Little League treasury at the conclusion of each
playing season.

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Women who have given unselfishly of their time to the auxiliary are: Mrs.
F. Lindsay, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Everett Schurr, Mrs. H. Blackstone, Mrs. E.
Seiner, Mrs. Haun, Mrs. Brau, Mrs. Charles Brewer, Mrs. Verle Hudson, Mrs.
D. Koss, Mrs. R. Miller, Mrs. J. Lee and Mrs. Marshall.

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RELIGION

'Religion is the basis
for civil society, and
the source of all good
and all comfort."

IBID

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HARVEY CHURCHES

In the successful development of any community religion is fundamental
and the strength of its moral fiber has a direct dependence upon the number of
its churches and the devotion of their memberships.

Originally a temperance community, Harvey would, in the natural course
of its growth, have an especial attraction for those who wished to apply their
religious convictions realistically as well as fervently to faiths of their choice.

From a small core of zealously religious pioneers the fine church community
of today has developed. Whatever one's belief there is a church house in which
he can get spiritual solace with neighbors of similar faith — commonly bound
in the objective of saving the soul of man.

The Harvey of today, as in the foundling days, has a citizenry diversified
in nationality, with varied backgrounds and philosophies. Yet they traverse the
same path in the quest for spiritual guidance and human understanding through
the medium of the Church.

ACADEMY METHODIST CHURCH

First services of the Academy Methodist church were held in a building on
the city's north side that had originally served as a school for pupils from the
first to the sixth grades. Meanwhile the membership arranged for the purchase
of vacant property nearby and in 1892, with their own capital, plus other ob-
tained from officials of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, constructed a
$7,000 building at 147th and Green Streets. It was dedicated on May 14, 1893.

In October of the same year as the church trustees were meeting in the
parsonage, tragedy struck in the form of a fire. All that was saved from the
burning building were a number of folding chairs and two leather-covered
swinging doors. The doors are still in use although they are now covered with
masonite.

Following demolition of the structure the congregation met in the World's
Fair hotel at 146th Street between Desplaines and Jefferson Streets. By selling
the parsonage it became possible to erect a second church in 1895 on the site
now occupied by the educational unit. Long benches were used for seats, but
there was sufficient space for a church school in a wing of the building.

Within two years the church school had outgrown the quarters and a room
was built on the east side of the structure.

Shortly after the congregation had moved into the church, the World's
Fair hotel, which it had occupied, and several other structures also burned to the
ground.

In 1911 a basement was dug at the corner of 146th and Green Streets and
the building moved there. Cement blocks used in the towers were made by hand
by church members and their families.

The next step forward was made in 1943 when the home of James Ward
at 14545 Green Street was bought for use as a parsonage. The first minister to
occupy it was the Reverend Ellsworth S. Ewing and his family.

Under the pastorate of Reed J. Hurst, ground was broken on October 3,
1954, for an educational unit comprising five classrooms and an assembly
room on the first floor with the furnace room and lavoratories and class space in
the basement. The cost was $22,000 when completed. Consecration services
were held on June 19, 1955. This building, which was expected to meet the
needs of the church school for many years, was barely finished when increased
attendance due to the housing boom in the area made it necessary to begin

119

double sessions in it as well as the church basement. For short periods classes
were held in the parsonage as well as in the basement of a nearby home.

In the fall of 1958 it became necessary to either repair the old parsonage
at great cost or build a new one. The latter course was decided upon and a
lovely two-floor brick home especially designed for parsonage living resulted.
It was built at 14536 Harvey Avenue at a cost of $23,600 and was formally
consecrated by the district superintendent, the Reverend Frank Countryman, on
December 14, 1958. It was first occupied by the Ronald Graham family.

Foreseeing the need for future expansion it was decided to purchase the
home and property of James McAley at 14539 Green Street in 1961 and renting
the house until needed by the congregation for building.

In April 1962 under the general chairmanship of Charles (Bud) Kickert
the services of a crusade leader were secured. The Reverend Dwight Wood-
worth of the Department of Finance and Field Service, Division of National
Missions of the Methodist church, conducted a crusade canvass to raise funds
for the present budget of $17,725 and a proposed future building on the site
at the northeast corner of 146th and Green Streets. The estimated cost of the
first unit including the sanctuary, educational, kitchen and fellowship facilities
was $120,000.

The congregation, following destruction of their first building was served
by student pastors who came out from Northwestern university. Their housing
and meal problems were some of the trials of the church board in those days.
One minister and family lived in the east wing of the church for a short time.
On occasions, the church sent out deaconesses to assist in the work. A number
of these are still remembered for their valiant, untiring work during the epi-
demic of the late '90's.

One student pastor moved his parents into the parish and following his
graduation remained here with the result that Academy became a full time
pastorate again. This pastor, Paul W. Grimes, is still well remembered by many.

The ministers who have served at Academy Methodist church since 1892
are as follows: D. McGurk (1892), J. P. Allen (1894), O. C. Baird (1896),
W. C. Scott (1897), James D. Fry (1899), Ernest Lee Thompson (1901), E.
E. Thompson (1901), John H. Williams (1902), H. W. Smith (1903), John A.
Kettle (1904), Charles Edo Anderson (1905), H. S. Witherbee (1906), L. M.
Bussey (1907), J. H. Meyer (1908), H. C. Munch (1908), Dr. Hilton (1909),
Paul L. Grove (1909), Charles M. Edmondson (1910)' S. B. Edmondson
(1910), M. L. Olson (1911), R. L. Davis (1911), C. P. Gibbs (1913), H. P.
Buxton (1915), S. M. Swaney (1915), J. L. Ralston (1916), Charles R. Goff
(1917), F. S. McKnight (1918-1922), Roscoe Jerril (1922), R. H. Laury
(1923-1925), Ray R. Kelley (1925), C. R. Ress (1926), Paul W. Grimes,
(1926-1936), Guy Chester Jones (1936-1940), A. A. Myers (1940), Ellsworth
S. Ewing (1941-1945), Julius J. Rankin (1945-1949), W. Richard Steffen
(1949-1951), Reed J. Hurst (1951-1955), Ronald R. Graham (1955-1959),
David W. Tracy (1959 to the present).

Organizations within the church at present are seven circles of the
Woman's Society of Christian Service, the Junior and Senior Methodist Youth
Fellowship groups; the Couplettes, the Adult Christian Fellowship and the
Prayer Group.

FREE METHODIST CHURCH

The Harvey Free Methodist Church was organized in the early part of
1892 under a grove of apple trees in South Harvey. In charge of the meeting was

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the Reverend J. D. Kelsey and forming the charter membership were Mr. and
Mrs. Jarvis Marriott. Mr. and Mrs. Allen Linscott, Miss Viola Marriott, Mr.
and Mrs. Levi Ettinger. Mrs. Ella Romine and Mrs. Marvin HeaK.

The society met for purposes of incorporation on February 4. 1892 at the
home of John F. Hill on Myrtle Avenue. The Reverend Mr. Kelse> served as
chairman and Charles Gere as secretary. Named to serve as trustees were:
Samuel E. Gardiner, John F. Hill, Clayton Van Flack, Joseph Hill and Charles
Gere. Corporation papers were filed in the Cook County courthouse on Febru-
ary 25, 1892.

Religious services were held for a short period in a pavilion stand in the
southern area of the city and subsequently the congregation worshipped in a
vacant store building at 156th Street and Center Avenue.

The growing congregation was forced to move again, this time into a
church building at 153rd Street and Center Avenue.

Under the pastorate of the Reverend Fred Campbell a church building
was erected in 1899 at 146th Street and Sangamon Avenue. Shortly thereafter
land was bought at 15215 Center Avenue and two years later the building on
the north side was moved to the new location.

Attendance continued to increase and by 1933 it became necessary- to ex-
pand facilities. Under the leadership of the Reverend E. E. Eldridge the church
was enlarged and remodeled.

Once again, in 1955, under the pastorate of the Reverend W. R. Thompson,
a building program was launched and on September 1, 1960 the congregation
moved into its attractive new edifice at 148th Street and Lexington Avenue.

The structure, consisting of four levels, is valued at $100,000 and repre-
sents a noteworthy addition to the physical appearance of the neighborhood as
well as a place of worship. The building can accommodate a congregation of
250 and a Sunday School of 300.

Cornerstone laying ceremonies were held on December 209 1959 with the
new pastor, the Reverend L. H. Seifert in charge, and actual occupancy took
place on September 1. 1960. Dedication rites were held on November 6. 1960
with Conference Superintendent K. M. Walton presiding. Members of the
board of trustees were: Clarence Krantz. Clarence Spindler. George Slack,
Gerald Keys and Rapha Barritt, emeritus.

Pastors who have served the church throughout the vears are: C. B.
Weatherall (1892), J. H. Hill (1893), E. G. Crver (1894-1895), F. O. Lewis
(1895-1897), Fred Campbell (1897-1899). John Harvey (1899-1901), P. W.
Newcomer (1901-1903). James Sprague (1903-1905). M. L. Johnson (1905-
1907), D. W. Hart (1907-1908), John Will ( 1908-1910). -J. G. Roctenback
(1910-1912), J. R. Kline (1912-1915). W. T. Loring (1915-1917), E- A.
Tapper (1917-1920), Sadie Hill Wilkins (1920-1924), E. L. Kline (1924-
1927), A. L. Wright (1927-1928), Willis Baker (1928-1929), E. E. Eldridge
(1929-1935), A. A. Finders (1935-1919), A. H. Fleming ( 1939-1940)rA. L.
Manning (1940-1942). N. C. Martin (1942-1943). H. W. Phillips, W. F.
Dick (1945-1948). T. A. Bailey (1948-1950). W. D. Mack (1950-1955), C.
D. Broyles (1953-1955). W. R. Thompson (1955-1959), L. H. Seifert (1959
to the present).

SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH

Different from other faiths, the Seventh Day Adventists observe the Sabbath
on Saturday, the seventh day of the week, according to the fourth of the Ten

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Commandments. The denominational name is derived from the observance
of that day and the second personal advent of Christ to the earth.

Organized in Harvey in August, 1891 by a small group of about 25 mem-
bers the Adventists first worshipped in the Swedish Lutheran Church at 153rd
Street and Lexington Avenue, moving a year later to the Swedish Methodist
Church at the corner of 153rd Street and Loomis Avenue.

Membership grew steadily, although not spectacularly, and it was decided to
obtain a church of its own.

The German Lutheran Church at 125 East 153rd Street was on the market
and the sale transaction for $1,500 between the two churches was completed in
1920.

For a time the group prospered but there came a decrease in the congrega-
tion when several families moved from the community.

In 1947 consideration was given to abandoning the local church and the
suggestion was made that the members attend churches in other communities.
Several of the more devout, however, were reluctant and continued to worship
here. Gradually, the membership began to grow once more and by the year
1951 it had reached such proportions that a new and larger church was
necessary. The old building was sold for $7,000 and two years later a new
building for the Seventh Day Adventists was in the planning stage. The local
membership worshipped then for a year in the Chicago Heights church, but
arrangements were made to rent the Harvey Church of Peace building at 152nd
Street and Lexington Avenue. There the congregation worshipped for two and a
half years.

In August, 1952, four lots were purchased at the corner of 150th Street
and Paulina Avenue. Ground was broken for a church and school on March 8,
1954 at an impressive ceremony. Completed, first services were held in the
structure in October, 1955.

Only a devoted membership made the building possible by donating the
labor. It is a fine edifice, ample in size to serve the needs of the congregation.

Following are the pastors who have served the Harvey church: Elder Har-
ris, Elder Wright, Elder Sherrig, Elder Kinney, Elder R. G. Campbell, Elder
Bush, Elder Osgood, Elder Wyatt, Elder Caslow, Elder Kroeger, Elder Mc-
Comas, Elder Brown.

Members who have gone on to serve the faith in other fields are Elder Don-
ald Myers, who is with the West Virginia Conference, and Brother Cleveland,
who is now serving the Quincy, Illinois District.

ASCENSION CATHOLIC CHURCH

Prior to the formal organization of the Ascension church, between the
years 1891 and 1894, those of the faith worshipped as a small group, actually
one of three missions that had been established at Harvey, West Pullman and
Chicago Heights and who were served by priests assigned by the Chicago
Diocese.

Among those who served, according to a Golden Jubilee booklet compiled
by the Ascension parish in 1944, were Father Tynan, pastor of Pullman's Holy
Rosary church; Monsignor Foley, described as a young, energetic priest and as
the clergyman who established the three above missions.

The parish history records that Father Foley used a "spanking team of
horses to carry him through the bottomless mud or the steep snowdrifts" to

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serve his missioners. Among Harvey's early Catholic families the more prom-
inent were the Verhoevens and the Finns of the North Harvey area on 147th
Street, the Carneys on the city's west side and the Moncktons in the area to
the community's southeast, referred to as "Michigan."

There were, of course, no church buildings in which to conduct the Masses
and the mission services were conducted in store buildings and even in the old
Harvey Land Association building. Assisting in conducting those services in the
three small missions were the Reverend P. A. Clancy, the Reverend John
Harrington and the Reverend James Dunn.

The fledging church had many benefactors and the furnishings and linen
were assembled by such -early families as the Ducetts, Rogers, Scotts, Smiths,
Moncktons, Carneys, Bradleys, Powers, Howlands, Nilons, Verhoevens and the
O'Briens.

Women of the mission organized an Altar and Rosary Society and had the
task of arranging the locations for the Masses. They did, in addition, many of
the menial tasks required which included scrubbing, dusting, making and
laundering linens and providing flowers for the altars.

The first Catholic Church in the city became a reality under the guidance
of Father Foley in 1894 when a building was erected at the corner of 150th
Street and Myrtle Avenue. It was then that the name Ascension was selected.

Archbishop Feehan dedicated the church on September 26, 1895, a date
which marked also the first Communion and Confirmation classes. Among those
who were members of the class were Mary Monckton and Catherine Howland,
whose family names are today widely known and respected here.

The first resident pastor assigned to Ascension Church was the Reverend
J. B. Feeley on June 29, 1899. He became known to parishioners as "the good
Father" and church history records that he "wisely fostered the infant parish
and by his homely virtues and sympathetic friendship established it in the
esteem and good will of the whole community whose interest in and patronage
of parties^ bazaars, entertainments and festivals during the ensuing years was
most helpful in the building up of the parish."

There being no rectory, the pastor made his home with the William Powers
family and two nephews of Mr. Powers, James and John, were among the
first altar boys.

Negotiations which resulted in the erection of the Ascension Church of
today began in 1901 with the purchase of a plot of ground at the northwest
corner of 153rd street and Myrtle Avenue. To this site the original frame
building was moved, as was a frame house purchased in West Harvey which
was to be used as a rectory for many years until the construction of the beauti-
ful brick building occupying the site today.

It was shortly thereafter that the church formed its first choir with the
assistance of Miss Theresa Flick, who was a teacher in a Riverdale parochial
school. Among the first members were many whose names are perpetuated in
their descendants and are yet widely known. Included were Tillie Bradley (Mrs.
St. Aubin), Jeannie Bradley (later Mrs. Frank Zanco), Frank Volz, Frank
Kramer, John and Lucille Verhoeven, Margaret and Lulu Wilson and several
years later, James and John Scully of a widely known family active in civic
affairs.

Ever striving to raise the standards of the parish. Father Feeley inspired
the first men's organization, known as the Columbus Circle. For his work
among youth he was made an honorary member of the Civic and Union Clubs
of Harvey and it was with regret that this community bid him adieu when he
was called to serve the Good Council parish in Chicago.

123

His departure was marked by a huge farewell banquet by these non-sectarian
clubs, which presented him with a full set of gorgeous vestments.

Succeeding Father Feeley was the Reverend George T. McCarthy, young,
vigorous, zealous man dedicated to duty, whose personal effort resulted in
1919 in' the erection of the church which today serves a greatly expanded
parish.

The original buliding was moved to the rear of the lot along 153rd Street,
remodeled by the parishioners and converted into a school, called Columbus.
The second floor was arranged as living quarters for the Dominican nuns who
were to serve the school as teachers. A third floor contained a parish hall.

Father McCarthy was the founder also of Garcia Moreno Council, Knights
of Columbus, as well as St. George Court, Women's Catholic Order of
Foresters.

Always conscious of the need for planned activities for the younger element
of the parish membership, he formed the Lorretorian League which was to carve
an important niche in the history of the parish. Members staged amateur
theatricals, climaxed by the production of the 15th century morality play,
"Everyman."

In 1917 Father McCarthy, who had endeared himself not only to his own
people but to every resident of the city, left with many of the young men with
whom he had such a close feeling of comradeship to join the United States
Army during World War I and it was sadly that those who remained here bid
their highly respected and greatly loved pastor good-bye.

Following him at the Ascension altar was the Reverend William D. O'Brien,
who guided the parish through the trying days of the war and who earned the
respect of his members for his "sympathetic understanding and interest."

After four years Father O'Brien was succeeded by the Reverend Phillip
Furlong, his tenure marking the first time that the growing parish was to have
the added services of an assistant priest and many young priests have served
in this capacity before being assigned to parishes of their own.

In 1922 Father Furlong organized and became the Chaplain of Harvey
Court, Catholic Daughters of America. But of the greatest importance was his
interest in the children of the parish which led, in 1926, to the erection of the
Ascension school of today under the sponsorship of Cardinal Mundelein.

Upon Father Furlong's retirement the pastorate was assumed by Father
Patrick J. Hennessey, who had previously served at St. Mary's parish in Joliet.
His pastorate here was interrupted by his death and until the Reverend Edward
Holloway assumed that pastorate the parishioners were served by the Reverend
John Kane, Father Hennessey's assistant.

Much improvement in the physical aspects of the church property was ac-
complished under the direction of Father Holloway. Each building was com-
pletely modernized, old equipment replaced, the sanctuary renovated. Father
Holloway also was responsible for the establishment of a kindergarten.

Succeeding Father Holloway at the Ascension altar was the Reverend James
E. Shevlin, who came to Harvey in 1947. The parish has increased substantially
under the guidance of Father Shevlin and it was under his direction that the
lovely rectory adjacent to the church on Myrtle Avenue was erected in 1949.

Father Shevlin also provided the inspiration for the erection of a most at-
tractive convent on Vine Avenue at the north end of the church property and
for the sixteen Dominican nuns who serve the parish as teachers in its grade
school, this was a most noteworthy improvement. It can be said that this struc-
ture, completed in March 1957, is one of the city's most gracious and attractive
church properties.

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The growth of Ascension parish to its stature of today is best indicated in
the number of clergymen who serve as assistants to Father Shevlin. Included
are the Reverend John Gibbons, the Reverend Gerald Fraser, the Reverend
Anthony Pleiss, the Reverend John Duffy. Two other of Father Shevlin's assist-
ants who endeared themselves to the parish, but who were transferred to
pastorates of their own were the Reverend James Morrissey and the Reverend
John Powers.

THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH

Founded in 1890, when members gathered in the most convenient homes,
halls, storerooms — wherever space could be found, the First Methodist
Church can rightfully claim being Harvey's first church group.

The official organization of the church occurred on December 2, 1890,
after the Reverend H. L. Houghton had been called by the members to serve
as pastor, when thirty-one people met at the home of P. H. Lyster.

Of historical importance is the fact that the first person received into mem-
bership was Mrs. G. V. Anderson on January 31, 1891. The first infant bap-
tized was Rosewell Barrett, the first wedding solemnized by the Reverend Mr.
McGurk July 27, 1892, was Roy Gallagher to Flora Barnes.

The first Sunday school was organized on April 19, 1891 in the little Ger-
man church on Center Avenue just south of 153rd Street.

Beginning on April 26, 1891, both church services and Sunday School
classes were held on the third floor of the old French Block at the northeast
corner of 154th Street and Columbia Avenue.

The congregation continued to meet at various places until it bought the
Union chapel, founded by Turlington W. Harvey at the southeast corner of
155th Street and Lexington Avenue. It is now the home of the Oddfellows
Lodge.

Although the union chapel might have had the distinction of being the first
church in the young city, it "never achieved the purpose for which it was in-
tended by Mr. Harvey," the memoirs of Peter Beck record, and in November,
1891 it was bought by the Methodists from the Harvey Land Association for
$8,000.

One month later the structure was dedicated and in attendance were many
whose names will be recalled by present pioneer residents. Included were Mrs.
W. H. Robinson, Miss Minnie Stone, A. S. Craver, Mr. and Mrs. L. K. Hins-
dale, Mrs. Samuel Stinton, Miss Mary Goddard, Miss Emily Lytton, Miss
Sayde Millison, Mrs. G. C. Carswell, Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Trumbull.

Those who served the young church as stewards included F. M. Grout, W.
Finley James, Mrs. Ida James, Rufus Ricker, R. B. Smith and Mrs. Anna Mc-
Gilvray. Members of the board of trustees were C F. Craver, F. H. Selden,
William A. Miller, E. Weaver, E. D. Harris, P. H. Lyster, H. M. Hurd, J. C
Bloodgood and Daniel McGilvray.

Services in the church were held continuously until 1913 when, during the
pastorate of the Reverend G. C. Carswell, the present building at the northwest
corner of the same intersection was dedicated after a one-year period of con-
struction. Previously it had been the site of the elaborate carriage barn belong-
ing to Charles Craver, Austin Company executive.

Closely connected with the Methodist church of those years was the family
of Edward Gamble which made contributions of substantial amounts toward
the new structure. It was as an expression of appreciation by the membership

125

that they chose to call the new church "Zella Gamble Memorial Methodist
Church," honoring the memory of Mr. Gamble's wife. The building was dedi-
cated on November 29, 1914, and its name maintained until recent years when
it became the First Methodist church.

Since the pastorate of the Reverend Mr. Houghton, who served from 1890
to 1892, the church has been served by the following ministers: Daniel Mc-
Gurk (June to September 1892), J. A. Lucas and Frank C. Bruner who ex-
changed pastorates between meetings of the Rock River Conference, Mr.
Moore (1897-1900), Perley Powers (1900-1903), W. I. Otjen (1903-1906).
Thomas G. Cocks (1906-1908), H. G. Warren (1908-1919), G. C. Carswell
(1913-1917), I. E. Putnam (1917-1921), Charles D. Wilson (1921-1925),
Frank Anderson (1925-1935), W. C. Godden (1935-1941), A. C. Nesmith
(1941-1948), J. L. Figley (1948-1956), Paul E. Turk (1956-1959), and
Joseph E. Keller, who is the present pastor.

As membership grew it created a demand for more adequate quarters and
in 1954 the official board approved the purchase of the Peter Beck home adja-
cent to the church property on the north. It became the location for the ex-
panding Sunday School and was named the Jewell House in honor of Dr.
Minna Jewell, a professor at Thornton Junior College who had "given gener-
ously of her time, effort and finances."

However, the new facility met the need only temporarily and a campaign
to raise funds for the erection of a new building was launched. It resulted in
the destruction of the Jewell House and erection of the Christian Education
building which was consecrated on March 12, 1961.

Those serving presently as trustees are: George Owen, Norman Seagraves,
Ernest Willing, Dr. Clarence Simon, T. E. Strum, William Weaver, George
Bennett, Charles Boese and Paul S. Godwin.

Present stewards are: Miss Ruth Brown, Fred Fehsel, Richard Foerch, Earl
Gossett, Mrs. Ernest Hanson, Mrs. B. M. Johnson, Lowell Kretzer, Mrs. Ted
Massey, Ted Massey, Richard Maxwell, James McGinness, A. W. Merritt, Mrs.
Ressie Millins, Delbert Parker, Mrs. Delbert Parker, Ervin Reeves, Miss Wini-
fred Stabenow, Mrs, Morris Swieringa, Mrs. Stephen Thompson, Karl Treen,
Robert Upton, Bud Wallace, Bruce Williams and Mrs. C. L. Zehner.

Other major church positions are held by: Mrs. Harold Pierce, director of
music; Mrs. Lauren Berry, organist; Mrs. E. Paul Frankson, secretary; Mrs.
U. M. Balke, financial secretary, and Ralph Silvey, custodian.

FEDERATED CHURCH

The history of the Federated church is actually the combined histories of
two of Harvey's early churches, the First Congregational and the First Presby-
terian.

Each of the churches flourished until their federation in 1920 and thus
their individual histories must be chronicled, until that year when their
histories become one.

It appears that the first of the two to become organized was the Congrega-
tional which had its beginning about November 1, 1890 when, early documents
say, "G. S. K. Anderson of the Moody Bible Institute began preaching in a
small frame schoolhouse north of the Grand Trunk tracks."

It seems also, that although this was later to become the Congregational
church, its original membership included those of the Methodist and Baptist
faiths.

126

"Sometime in December (1890) the Methodists withdrew and organized
their own church and in January (1891) the Baptists did likewise," an old
document says, and the histories of these churches indicate the authenticity of
that document.

Those who remained of the original congregation concluded that the time
was appropriate for organizing their own church and on February 8, 1891 held
their first meeting at the old "bank hall." A committee was appointed at that
meeting to canvass the community in an effort to determine what the residents
preferred in the way of a church.

At a meeting a week later the committee reported "having obtained 103
expressions of opinion." Opinion favored a Congregational church and this led
to its organization.

Specifically, the committee determined that 38 preferred that church, 15
favored a Presbyterian church, 10 a Methodist church, eight an Episcopal
church, seven a Christian church, seven a United Brethren church, five a Luth-
eran church, five a Dutch Reformed church, four a Baptist church, two an
Unitarian church and one an Adventist church.

The survey resulted in the formation of a committee to proceed with the
drafting of a constitution and the preparation of the articles of faith. Serving
were Thomas MacFarlane, M. Austin, F. W. Gilbert, all Congregationalists; A.
W. Campbell and D. Fenton, Presbyterians, and C. E. Howard, an Episco-
palean. Mr. MacFarlane served as chairman and Mrs. Austin as secretary.

It was the report of this committee, on February 22, 1891, that resulted in
the formation of the Congregational church, because the organizers agreed
unanimously to substitute the word "Congregational" for Evangelical." It is a
matter of record that those of the other faiths decided to ally themselves with
the group which had been shown as predominant in the committee survey. At
the meeting 27 persons signed the constitution and articles of faith. Charter
members totaled 79.

Details of the formation of the Presbyterian church, which was to become
the second part of the federation, have been obscured by time and there exists
no documentary evidence of how this congregation came into being.

However, it has been established that the church resulted from a suggestion
by the Reverend J. B. McClure.

"Some," unnamed historians say, "seem to have been persuaded to with-
draw from the Congregational church and, together with other Presbyterians
who arrived in the community at a later date, arranged a meeting in the German
Evangelical chapel (location unknown) on March 17, 1892, at which the
Presbyterian church was organized."

Minutes of that meeting say that Dr. McClure was aided in the organiza-
tional work by the Reverend James Thompson of Oakland, California, who
spoke on the "right to the organization of a Presbyterian church in Harvey."
Twenty-six persons were accepted for membership and "eight others were en-
roled on condition that their letters would be received."

Ten elders, including Dr. G. A. Stevenson, A. R. Webber, J. C. Black, J.
D. Grant, John Beck, Irving Mutchler, Thomas Black, C. T. H. Riggs, Theodore
Dudgeon and a second J. D. Grant, were named.

From that point until discussions began on the union of the two churches
the history of the Presbyterian church is blank and there appears to be no
record of its pastors or its growth.

The Spring of 1920 marked the beginning of federation discussions and the
first joint meeting of 18 members of the Congregational Church and 14 from
the Presbyterian Church was held prior to June 20 of that year.

127

Presiding as chairman was the Reverend Martin Luther Thomas. The meet-
ing resulted in the appointment of a joint committee to study the feasibility of
federation. Members of the committee were: the Reverend Henry S. Brown,
Dr. G. A. Stevenson, Thomas J. Phillips, R. C. Mueller, representing the
Presbyterians, and the Reverend Reuben L. Breed, A. W. Campbell, H. H.
Mynard and Peter Beck, representing the Congregationalists.

Their efforts resulted in a meeting of the two congregations on June 3,
1920 when the articles of federation were presented and accepted by both.

The same committee met on June 15 and arranged for the Reverend Martin
Luther Thomas to serve as temporary pastor. On June 28 the organization was
completed, A. W. Campbell being elected chairman of the board of directors,
and R. C. Mueller as secretary.

In October the Reverend Robert Edward Zeigler was named pastor and he
served until 1924, when the pastorate was assumed by the Reverend William
F. Vance. Extremely popular with the church membership, Reverend Mr.
Vance remained at the position until 1932 when he was succeeded by the
Reverend Stanley Graf.

Reverend Mr. Graf served the congregation until 1940 when he was suc-
ceeded by the Reverend Lawrence Harvison. The Reverend Mr. Harvison left
in 1948 and the pastorate was assumed by the Reverend Thomas Napolitan.

When the Reverend Mr. Napolitan left in 1956 to accept a pastorate in
Florida the present pastor, the Reverend John Rossel, came to Harvey and it
has been under his direction that many physical changes in the church facilities
have been effected.

Ministers occupied the parish house immediately adjacent to the south
until 1941 when property at 15425 Lexington Avenue was purchased for a
parsonage. This served the pastors until 1944 when, under the terms of the
will of Miss Georgia Mynard, a member of the congregation for many years,
the church became the owner of the spacious residence at 149 East 155th Street.
It serves today as the parsonage.

The Original Articles of Federation remained substantially the same for
many years, until May 28, 1958 when, upon the building of a new church
adoption of a new Constitution became mandatory for legal reasons. As a result
a new religious corporation known as the "Federated Church of Harvey" was
formed and property held by the two original churches was deeded to the new
corporation.

A steadily increasing membership made it imperative that the original
church building be demolished to make way for a more modern, spacious
building and wheels were set in motion to assure adequate financing for the
project. It was under the inspirational leadership of Robert F. Rice, Arthur
Tomlinson and James Wiltshire, who served as chairman of the Building,
Financial and Building Fund committees, respectively, that the objective was
realized.

So, in 1958 there arose on the site of the old church one of the community's
most attractive religious edifices, a $274,000 structure the most warming aspect
of which is a huge stained glass window at the north which tells the story of
Christ from birth to Resurrection. Each panel reveals a highlight in His life
and those who erected it, the Willet Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
have said that such an attraction is unique in church history.

However, even this spacious, architecturally splendid edifice was only one
of a two-part building program which resulted in 1960 in the erection of an
educational unit to the west of the main building. Erected at a cost of $100,000
the wing provided the membership, which had reached 1,100 at this point, with

128

adequate space for use by the congregation groups. The site is beautifully land-
scaped and has added substantially to community beautification.

Among the active groups within the church are the Women's Federation,
the Merry Couples, the Church School, the Federated Men's Club, the Youth
Fellowship, the Crusaders and the Daily Vacation Bible School.

Serving today as minister of education is the Reverend Gilbert Miller. Ed-
ward N. Oathout is the organist-director and Mrs. Harry Sailors the office
secretary.

Other officers of the congregation are: Lewis D. Loring, moderator;
Arthur Tomlinson, vice moderator; Miss Elizabeth Brushfield, secretary to the
board of directors; Warren Teichler, church treasurer; Mrs Henry Mclllwaine,
fniancial secretary; Mrs. George Stevenson, building and financial secretary;
George Ri-ester. church school superintendent; Mrs. Charles Geupel, president,
Women's Federation; George Morse, president Men's Service Club; Mr. and
Mrs. James Wiltshire, president Merry Couples Club; Miss Adriana DeGraff,
congregational clerk; Wilbur Morrison, clerk of sessions.

Congregational elders are: William Hardlannert, Jr., Clifford Massoth,
Clarence Stegmeir, J. Robert Day, Howard D. Jehu, Guy Phillips, Mrs. Carlton
Stute, Donald Trimble and Neil Worcester.

Presbyterian elders are: Clifford Satterthwaite, Francis Waterman, Joseph
Blomquist, Mrs. Charles Armingtonr George Morse, Carl Peterman, Wesley
Churchill and James White.

Serving as deacons are: Chairman Herbert Bean, Frank Gray, Frank
Huson, James Henderson, Sr., William Stewart, John Melik, Frank Paschke,
Edward Moravek, Gene Bell, Joseph Massick, Wilbur Overman and Richard
Payne. Honorary life members are Robert Newton, Sr., and William Hardlan-
nert, Sr.

Deaconesses are: Mrs. Cedric Casler, chairman, Miss Lois Henderson, Mrs.
Harvey Goebel, Mrs. Ernest Savageau, Mrs. Allen Besterfield, Mrs. William
Munro, Mrs. Wilbur Freese, Mrs. Edward Moravek, Mrs. John Brown, Mrs.
Roy Dennis, Mrs.* Carl Johnson and Mrs. Richard Melton.

Serving on the church board of trustees are: Mrs. Fred Bartlit, chairman,
and J. S. Stanley Ralph, vice chairman, Mrs. Fred Miller, Porter Hay, Sr.,
August Koehler, Robert DuBois, Walter Gustafson, Leslie Lyon, and Mrs.
Leonard Helfrich.

Committee chairmen are: J. Philip Allen, auditing; Raymond Krachey,
benevolence; Robert F. Rice, building; J. Stanley Ralph, building and grounds;
Mrs. Ralph Hale, chancel choir; Raymond Richardson, Christian education;
James T. Wilkes, endowment; Arthur Tomlinson, finance; Miss Ann Jensen,
flowers; Mrs. George Morse, historian; Edward Moravek, music; Mrs. John
Melik, publicity; Frank Huson, ushers.

SHAFFER CHAPEL AFRICAN METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Almost from its inception, Harvey has been what is now termed an "inte-
grated community" and members of the Negro race have been an accepted and
respected part of the city since the late 1890's when as one historian recorded,
'the barber shop was operated by Harvey's only colored man."

As was true with each segment of the community, the church has played a
prominent part in the lives of Harvey's Negro population and it is interesting to

129

note that there were enough representatives of the race in the city in 1896 to
form a congregation — that of the Shaffer Chapel African Methodist Church.

"Back in 1896 when men were filled with missionary spirit," church records
say, "the Chicago Annual Conference was eager to expand the bounds of
African Methodists."

It was at that conference a minister, whose name has been lost during the
years, was delegated as a missionary to Harvey. Once here "he gathered some
twelve or fifteen people at the home of William and Hester White at the
corner of 159th Street and Vine Avenue." It was at his suggestion that the name
of the church had been selected. It appears that the first pastor had an abiding
respect and love for the Reverend G. S. Shaffer, son of Bishop C. T. Shaffer
of the Chicago Conference.

After the pioneering preacher had served for one year he was succeeded by
the Reverend P. J. Coats, who conducted services in the "hose house at the
corner of 154th Street and Myrtle Avenue." The building was later sold to
the church by the City of Harvey, but the latter retained the land. The congrega-
tion continued to meet there until 1898 when two lots were purchased at 152nd
Street and Ashland Avenue.

In 1904, when the Reverend C. T. Shaffer became bishop of the Fourth
Episcopal District, the Reverend W. J. Festerman was assigned to the Harvey
pastorate and it was he who inspired the congregation to complete paying for
the lots and erect a new church building at the site, which had formerly be-
longed to Sam and Sarah Daniels.

Trustees at the time were Charles E. Smith, John E. Johnson and Zack
Wheeler.

A devoted congregation of 50 members built the new church with their
own hands, lumber being the only expense sustained.

It was under the leadership of Reverend W. B. Baber that a basement was
dug and the building moved to its present site at 15 East 152nd Street.

Next to assume the pulpit of the Shaffer Chapel was the Reverend J. N.
Goddard, assigned by Bishop L. J. Coppin during the Annual Conference at
Quinn Chapel in Chicago on September 24, 1919. It was under the Reverend
Mr. Goddard that a parsonage was constructed, this being accomplished by
the pastor, also a carpenter, and one assistant. Lumber used was from the old
hose house in which the congregation had first worshipped.

Among other clergymen who have served Shaffer Chapel were Louis Bu-
chanon, A. Boyd, J. D. Peterson, B. E. Evans, Reverend Butler, T. C. Devlin, L.
Mclnnis, J. H. Ferribee, F. J. Peterson, P. A. McWhorter, C. L. Henderson,
Reverend Smith, Reverend Shelton, T. J. Merritt, A. J. Irvine, H. H. Thompson,
J. L. Wingate, Lindsay Owens, W. H. Thomasson, Carrie White, Ira Burton,
David A. Blake, Jr. and Charles W. Holliday.

The congregation now numbers 100 and the present pastor is the Reverend
Oliver Thigpen, who assumed the pastorate on October 8, 1961.

FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST

The history of the Christian Science Church of Harvey dates back to 1908
when a small group of students interested in Christian Science began meeting in
their homes. The group was recognized as a Christian Science Society of the
Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachu-
setts, February 21, 1909, and in March of that year the Society began holding
regular Sunday services and Wednesday evening meetings in the Land Associa-

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tion building at 15432 Park Avenue. A reading room was established at the
same location.

In February. 1912. the Society sponsored its first Christian Science lecture
and in 1917 began giving one lecture a year. Since 1945 two free public lectures
have been given annually.

As Sunday School and church attendance grew, the group commenced to
look ahead and, in June, 1914. established a building fund. By the end of
1914 the need for larger quarters was apparent. The Illinois Bell Telephone
Company building at 15430 Center Avenue was rented. In 1916 larger quarters
were again required and this time the Society leased the first floor of the
Masonic Temple, 154th Street and Turlington Avenue. In the same year a lot
was purchased at 15303 Center Avenue, plans were drawn and by the end of
1916, a store-type building had been completed at this site.

In 1920 the Society began to consider a permanent home. Two lots were
purchased at the corner of 155th Street and Myrtle Avenue.

In 1926 the Christian Science Society of Harvey was recognized as a branch
of the Mother Church, and became First Church of Christ, Scientist, Harvey,
Illinois.

The membership instructed the board of directors in November of 1951, to
proceed with preliminary plans for a new church edifice to be erected on the
site at 155th Street and Myrtle Avenue. Following this decision came many
meetings participated in by the board of directors, the building committee, and
the church membership. By the end of the year plans for the new edifice had
been approved. On February 28, 1957, the board of directors was authorized
to sell the church and property at 15303 Center Avenue. On Monday, May
30, 1957, ground was broken for the present edifice. The first Sunday service in
the new church was held on January 5, 1958.

Through the generous donations of church members, friends, and other
sources, a 10 year loan obtained from a local bank was repaid in less than
four years.

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Harvey, dedicated its church edifice on
Sunday, January 7, 1962. Two services were held, the first beginning at 10:45
a.m. and the second at 4:00 p.m.

Christian Science churches are dedicated only when free of debt.

A Christian Science reading room was maintained where the church services
vvere held until January 1953 when it was moved to its own quarters at 15339
Center Avenue, Harvey. Illinois. It is open to the public from 12:00 noon to
4:00 p.m. daily except Sundays and holidays, and on Friday evenings. Christian
Science literature, the Bible, and all of Mary Baker Eddy's writings may be
•ead, borrowed, or purchased at the reading room.

Church services are held at 10:45 a.m. Sundays and 7:45 p.m. on Wednes-
day evenings. Sunday school is held at the same time as the Sunday church
service, 10:45 a.m.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

I. D. Johnson and A. M. Guiles are reported to have been the motivating
rorces behind the establishment of the First Baptist Chuch in Harvey and it
vas through their efforts that a series of cottage prayer meetings were held in
he A. R. Little home under the driection of students from the Morgan Park
Theological Seminary. First of the preachers was W. B. Owen of that seminary.

The small group met between 1890 and January 11, 1891 when the first

131

efforts were made to organize a church. Presiding at the discussions was the
Reverend T. W. Goodspeed of the University of Chicago, but it was students
from the seminary who continued to conduct the meetings until June 4, 1891
when the church was formally organized.

Charter members were: Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. William
Loncoy, Mr. and Mrs. I. H. R. Little, Mr. and Mrs. G. K. Bailey, Mr. and Mrs.
W. H. Shannon, Mr. and Mrs. L. Morris, Mr. and Mrs. I. Cassel, Mrs. Ella
Medley, Miss Mary Little, Miss Florence Norris and Miss Nellie Norris.

First of the pastors was the Reverend Joseph Swanson and the deacons who
guided the new church through its early years were Samuel G. Holyoke and
Turlington W. Harvey.

Within a year the membership found it possible to proceed with the building
of their own church and on July 30, 1892 the cornerstone of the present church
at 154th and Lexington Avenue was laid.

A consistent growth in the membership necessitated enlarging the church
and this was accomplished in November, 1925 when dedication services were
held.

Many members of the First Baptist Church have carved niches in the field
of religion and members who have gone from the church in dedication of
themselves to Christian service were: Reverend Roger Johnson, Mrs. Ruth
Johnson, Miss Ida Rhodes (a missionary to Africa), Reverend Arthur Ander-
son, Mrs. Sara Anderson, Reverend Herbert Johnson, Mrs. Ruth Johnson,
Mrs. Alice Post, Reverend James Luckman, Reverend Roy Harrington, Mrs.
Thelma Harrington, Reverend Porter Barrington, Mrs. Ethel Barrington, Rev-
erend Mr. Hukill, Reverend LeRoy Wortman, Mrs. LeRoy Wortman, Reverend
Sidney Speers, Mrs. Sidney Speers, Reverend O. Ethridge, Mrs. Ida Ethridge,
Reverend Richard Couwenhoven.

In recent years the congregation membership has reached 365, with 377
enrolled in Sunday School, and present facilities have rapidly become inade-
quate. Early in 1962 steps were taken to remedy the situation with the erection
of a parsonage at 145th Street and Loomis Avenue which eventually will be
the site of a handsome new church edifice.

Pastors who have served the First Baptist Church through the 72 years
since its founding are: Joseph Swanson (1891), J. M. Lockhart (1892-1895),
W. J. John (1895-1896), A. G. Miller (1897-1899), I. T. Ilsey (1899-1901),
S. A. Heyworth (1901-1902), G. S. White (1903-1904), C. M. Dinsmore
(1904-1907), J. W. Rees (1907-1909), W. J. Mapelsden (1909-1913), A. B.
Marcer (1913-1916), E. Everton (1916-1917), W. Miller (1917-1919), W. H.
Peebles (1919-1930), W. Sampson (1930-1934), H. W. Taylor (1935-1940),
M. S. Hansen (1940-1954), H. Murdoch (1956-1961), H. Dautel (1962).

THE SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH

Second of the Harvey churches whose membership is drawn from the Negro
race is the Second Baptist church founded in 1901 under the leadership of the
Reverend J. B. Butler. Church history records that tremendous assistance dur-
ing the formative years was provided by the board of trustees consisting of
Brothers Sam Glenn, Bush and William Dullen. It was Mr. Glenn who instigated
the purchase of a blacksmith shop located at an unknown site. The building
was moved to the church's lot on Lexington Avenue between 157th and 158th
Streets.

In 1906 the pastorate was assumed by the Reverend Jordan who carried on

132

the work of his predecessor in building up the church membership. That he
succeeded is attested to by the fact that the capacity of the original church was
exceeded and a new structure was started on the site. Overcoming many ob-
stacles, the church was completed and dedicated in 1912.

During the pastorate of the Reverend G. A. Humphrey it became necessary
once more in 1947 to expand and property was purchased at 150th Street and
Robey Avenue.

The following year ground was broken and the church completed two years
later.

When the Reverend Mr. Humphrey was transferred to Richmond, Indiana,
his assistant, the Reverend Horace Mitchell took over the pulpit, being assisted
in his myriad duties by the Reverend Donald Arthur and Reverend James
Roseborough, Sr.

In 1952 the Reverend Lucshas Allen, whose previous charge was the
Union Baptist Church in Danville, Illinois, became the pastor, at the same time
serving as director of the Versatile a capella Choir of Chicago.

Under the Reverend Mr. Allen's pastorate, the church passed another mile-
stone when the sanctuary was completed. The ceremony of dedication was held
on January 13, 1952. Yet incomplete, another step forward was taken under the
pastorate of the Reverend L. E. Green — completion of the front entrance and
sanctuary balcony.

Upon Reverend Green's departure in 1959 his associate pastor, Reverend
Hunter assumed his duties, until the appointment of the Reverend Napoleon
Davis under whose leadership the church building was completed.

Reverend Davis, the present pastor, administers to a congregation of ap-
proximately eight hundred members.

ST. SUSANNA CATHOLIC CHURCH

To the west side of Harvey there came to live a fine group of Catholic
families who went to St. Stanislaus Church in Posen and St. John the Baptist
Church in Phoenix. Soon they petitioned the Archbishop of Chicago for a
church of their own. Due to the religious zeal of the members of the Citizen's
Club under the leadership of Joseph Pilsudski a meeting was called in the
hall of Joseph Babon. At this meeting a committee was chosen to present a
petition for the establishment of a parish. The members of this committee
were Joseph Babon, Stanley Janik, Andrew Klaczynski, Peter Spiewak, Walter
Tychewicz, Mrs. Sophie Grzesik, Mrs. Julia Szczerbuk (Spiewak) and Mrs.
Pauline Zeleznik. This committee went to Msgr. T. Bona with their request.
They presented a list of 125 families as future parishioners and a map of West
Harwy.

The Archbishop appointed the Reverend Thomas Smyk as the founder and
first pastor of St. Susanna's Parish on December 2, 1927. The first Mass, in
the newly established parish, was said at 5:30 a.m. on December 8, 1927 in
Makarek's Hall, 14901 Lincoln Avenue. The first ushers were Joseph Babon,
Stanley Janik, Peter Spiewak and Albert Sypien.

As a rectory, a private home was purchased and this serves the purpose
to this day.

To begin the construction of a church and school as soon as possible, the
Citizens' Club purchased nine lots and donated them to the parish. The Arch-
bishop purchased an additional 13 lots. On May 17, 1928 the ground-breaking
ceremony took place. Also on this day 31 children received their First Holy

133

Communion. June 10, 1928 the blessing of the corner stone ceremony took
place. Msgr. A. Halgas officiated, assisted by Reverend Theodore Czastka as
Deacon and Reverend Vincent Nowicki as Subdeacon. Reverend Albert Ols-
zewski rendered the sermon.

Beginning September 11, 1928 classes were held in the parish school with
an attendance of 270 children. The teachers were the Sisters of the Holy Family
of Nazareth, Sister M. Laurenta, grade seven and eight, Sister M. Annina,
fifth and sixth, Sister M. Tacjana, Mother Superior, grade three and four, Sister
M. Fidencia, grade one and two. Sister M. Sergia was the cook for the nuns.

On October 14, 1928 the first l\4ass was said in the new church. On October
12, Most Reverend Bishop B. Sheil blessed the church and school. Assisting
him were Reverend Leon Sychocki as Deacon and Reverend Valentine Belin-
ski as Subdeacon. Reverend Joseph Karabasz rendered the sermon. The first
trustees of the parish were Andrew Klaczysnki and John Kozik.

In 1932 Reverend Thomas Smyk was transferred and in his place came
Reverend Ignatius Renklewski who was pastor until 1944. During his pastorate,
a parish hall was built.

In 1945 Reverend Ignatius Renklewski was transferred and in his place
came Reverend Paul Sobota. Under his pastorate the greater part of the parish
debt was liquidated.

In 1948 Reverend Paul Sobota was transferred and in his place came Rev-
erend Steven Kowalski. His stay in the parish was a short one, for he died
two years later.

In 1950 Reverend John M. Ostrowski accepted the pastorate. First he liqui-
dated the remaining parish debt. Then he improved the parish buildings and
added four rooms to the rectory. When his health began to fail in 1956, he
applied for an assistant. His eminence, Samuel Cardinal Stritch assigned
Reverend Walter J. Zmija.

All these years, the sisters' living quarters were in the school. Now came
the time to build a convent. Thanks to the generosity of the parishioners, a
beautiful structure was built and in 1957 the sisters moved into their new
quarters. Their old quarters in the school were converted into two classrooms.

In 1958 the heating system was converted from coal to oil, new confession-
als were installed in the church, and the church and school were remodeled and
redecorated. In this latter work, the Holy Name Society members were a great
help. Today all the classes in school are filled to capacity and in the parish there
are 450 families.

Regarded as a tragic loss by the parish was the death on November 24, 1961
of the Reverend Father Ostrowski who was succeeded the following month by
the Reverend Thaddeus Walenga, the present pastor.

HONORE AVENUE METHODIST CHURCH

It was in the Fall of 1891 that parents of students in the one-room school at
147th and Wood Streets received notice that on the following Sunday morning
a Sunday School class would have its first meeting in the real estate office of
Crossett and Deland on 147th Street just east of Page Avenue — and this
marked the beginning of what was to become the Honore Avenue Methodist
Church.

For a time students met in one room of the structure while their parents
worshipped in another. It was only a short time later when a student minister,
the Reverend Mr. Bretz, was assigned by the Rock River Conference of the

134

Methodist Church, to help found a church in the area, then known as "Spauld-
ing" after the man who subdivided it.

The organization completed, an official hoard was elected, but their names
have been lost in the maze of time. A building fund was inaugurated and the
Honore Avenue Methodist Church as it exists today was actually built in 1897
at 149th Street and Honore Avenue at a cost of $3,500. One of. the structure's
outstanding features was its stained glass windows, which represented about
$2,000 of the structure's cost.

The windows commanded wide attention and church documents record
that it was awarded a third prize during the Columbian Exposition. Significant-
ly, the window was designed by a Harvey man, Fred Drogula, and made in a
Harvey factory, the Wells Glass Company at 147th Street near Paulina Avenue.
Originally, the building was of frame construction, known as the "Taber-
nacle." It was located just east of the site of the present church, and used
until the new church was completed. Heated with coal stoves and illuminated
with kerosene lamps the building served well its purpose until the new church
was ready for occupancy.

As time passed the Honore Avenue Methodist Church grew in proportion
to the population although student ministers continued to fill the pulpit, coming
to Harvey on weekends.

One cause of the church growth was the establishment at Page Avenue
north of the Grand Trunk railroad of the Bellaire Stamping Works, manu-
facturers of enamelware. This created an influx of workers and subsequent
growth for the church. But the Bellaire Works was to be a short-lived factory,
for on New Year's Eve, 1900, it burned to the ground. It was never rebuilt and
the company moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, where it is still located.

Workers were forced to seek employment elsewhere and gradually the
membership of the church decreased. This marked the beginning of a long
program to build up the church membership to its former status, and several
outstanding members were credited with having furnished the inspiration for
the revival which followed. Church history credits D. W. Gamble, superintend-
ent of schools in Grade District 147, L. A. Pringle, his successor, and J. A.
McKee with being the guiding influences in keeping the small congregation
together.

Both Mr. Gamble and Mr. Pringle served as superintendents of the Sunday
School and Mr. McKee was a member of the official board of trustees.

The task of building has been a long and difficult one and playing a leading
role in the process has been the Women's Society of Christian Service.

The WSCS is the outgrowth of what was once the Ladies Aid Society whose
date of formation is unknown. It was organized for the purpose of promoting
social and financial interests of the church.

It is this society which spearheaded in 1951 a program of church improve-
ment which included re-decoration of the sanctuary, the kitchen and the base-
ment. Through varied money-raising projects the society was able to purchase
cabinets, sinks, a stove, hot water heater, dishes, chairs and tables.

In 1953 the WSCS assisted in underwriting the cost of constructing an
inside stairway, three men of the church, Charles Wolf, Cory Fosnaugh and
Lewis Meeks being credited with major roles in this project.

The program of improvement continued with the members furnishing the
labor. Wood paneling was installed in 1958 and new doors, the gift of Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Nicholson, were installed in 1960. Other improvements were ef-
fected because of the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Haviland, John Freese
and Bernard Frederick.

135

Pastors who have served Honore Avenue Methodist Church through the
years are: John Bretts (1891-1893), J. J. Hicks (1893-1895), F. E. Baldwin
(1895-1897), F. C. Lockwood (1897-1898), Emanuel Harris (1898-1900), C.
F. Kleihauer (1900-1902), George R. McDowell (1902-1903), A. T. Henry
(1903-1904), John A. Ayling (1904-1905), R. B. Lippincott (1905-1906),
A. M. Ewert (1906-1907), William H. Day (1907-1908), Dr. Hilton, (1908-
1909), Paul L. Grove (1909-1910), Merrill C. Holmes (1910-1911), Charles
H. Law (1911), C. M. Wallace (1911-1912), Clyde M. Taylor (1912-1914),
A. M. Wallock (1914-1917), R. W. Maulden (1917-1918), Frank S. Mc-
Knight (1918-1922), Rev. Jerrold (1922-1923), H. E. Montague (1923-1925),
Edgard A. Flory (1925-1926), George Hubbell (1926-1927), Raymond H.
Brown (1927-1929), Carlton J. Frazier (1929-1930), Warren L. Briggs (1930-
1932), Rev. Croyle (1932-1933), Mortimer Dean (1933-1934), Howard Buck
(1934-1937), Rev. Long (June-October 1937), H. D. Dick (1937-1942), N. F.
Whittle (1942-1943), Robert Stewart (1945), Bervie A. Scott (1946), John
Schweikert (1946-1949), Aimer M. Pennewell (April-September 1949), Ar-
mand Bois (1949-1953), George E. Francis (1953-1954), James M. Hersh-
berger (1954-1955), Eugene D. Beye (1955-1957), Lemuel E. Weir (1957- ).

ST. CLEMENT'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

St. Clement's Episcopal church had its inception at a meeting held at the
home of Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Phillips in Harvey, on December 7, 1898. The
names of record at the meeting were Joseph Haines, Mrs. Mary Chute, Mr. and
Mrs. R. D. Colerick, Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Lay, Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Riordan,
Mr. and Mrs. William Richardson, Mr. and Mrs. B. J. Winters, Mr. and Mrs.
Andrew Leslie, Mr. and Mrs. William McCorkindale, Mrs. Mary Condit, Mrs.
Amie Bray and Mrs. Stout. In addition, there were others who are not able to
be identified.

The first meeting was presided over by the Reverend Joseph Rushton, who
had been sent to Harvey by Bishop McLaren. As a result, the Harvey Episcopal
Mission was organized. Then on Sunday, December 18, 1898 at 10:30 a.m. the
first service was held by Father Rushton in the Harvey Land Association
Building, which is located on Park Avenue between 154th and 155th Streets.
On January 11, 1 899 the Church School was organized. It is interesting to
note that Mr. Walter Haines, and Mrs. Elsie Labbhart were members of this
Church School. They are still members of St. Clement's The first baptisms
were those of Jessie and Jane Winters. The date entered in the parish register
is January 18, 1899. The earliest baptized members of the present congregation
are Mrs. Robert Wurtman, Mrs. Elsie Labhart and Mr. Alfred Haines.

From June 1899 through October 1899 services were held regularly by
lay readers or visiting clergy. Then on All Soul's Day, November 2, 1899,
Bishop McClaren appointed the Reverend George D. Wright, chaplain of St.
Luke's Hospital, as priest-in-charge, and on June 15, 1900, Father Wright pre-
sented the first Confirmation Class of nine members to Bishop Anderson.

In July 1901, Bishop Anderson with the aid and cooperation of a com-
mittee of which R. D. Colerick was chairman, bought three lots on the corner
of 153rd Street and Loomis Avenue where the present church now stands.
Shortly after the purchase of the lots the Mission went through a period of
hard times, and for the next twenty years the land was used as a corn and
potato patch by the neighbors and as a playground for their children.

Until 1910 the Episcopal Church in Harvey was known as the Harvey

136

Episcopal Mission. Then under the tenure of Frank E. Wilson, who later be-
came bishop of Eau Claire, the name was changed to St. Clement's Mission.

The members of St. Clement's continued to worship in the Harvey Land
Association Building until 1919. Then the Mission moved to the Masonic
building which was located on the corner of 154th Street and Turlington
Avenue.

In 1921 the conditions at St. Clement's took a turn for the better. Bishop
Anderson gave the Mission $5,000 and a loan of an additional $5,000. These
amounts coupled with about $2,000 raised by members of the Mission enabled
them to build the present church. The building committee was appointed by
Bishop Anderson with Mr. Walter Haines as Chairman, and Mr. Fred Craver,
Dr. William McVey, Mr. Arthur Brookley, Mr. William Ward and Mrs. William
Hawley as members. The church was erected in 1922 under the tenure of Father
Parkinson. The cornerstone was laid on March 19, 1922 by Bishop Anderson.
Mr. Haines' account of this event is as follows. "On Sunday afternoon in Lent,
March 19, 1922 in a pouring rain, with 80 people standing in the freshly-dug
clay of the excavation, Bishop Anderson laid the cornerstone." The church
building was completed in September 1922, and on the first Sunday in Septem-
ber Father Parkinson celebrated the First Eucharist in the new building.

When the church was opened in September 1922 it was devoid of most of
the necessary furnishings. According to one account a truck load of male
parishioners made a night trip to a mission on the north side of Chicago which
had been closed. They returned with altar, stalls and pews.

From 1922 to 1929 the mission made some growth, but not enough to pro-
vide for a resident priest. The mission had never had a resident priest from its
inception in 1898 to 1935, being served in the early years by priests from the
Diocese or neighboring Chicago Heights, in later years by clergy from Blue
Island. Just about the time the mission was ready to obtain the services of a
resident priest the depression of 1929 came.

While the mission continued to be affected by the depression, its communi-
cant strength had increased so that in 1935 the church was able to obtain the
services of a full time resident priest. Bishop Stuart appointed the Reverend
Wilford O. Cross as priest-in-charge. Father Cross remainded at St. Clement's
tor about two years.

In 1937, when Father Cross resigned to accept a call to a parish in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, Bishop Stuart appointed the Reverend Arthur M. McLaughlin
as priest-in-charge. It was during his tenure from 1937 to 1947 that the tradi-
tions and practices of St. Clement's were fully established.

The next blow began with the Second World War which caused both an
exodus and a population change in the community. Thus, by 1947 the last
year of his tenure the communicant strength had dropped from 184 to 113.

In November 1947, Father McLaughlin was forced to retire because of ill
health. He remained in Harvey for about two years and was a great help to his
successor Father Bessette.

On October 15, 1948 Bishop Conkling appointed Father Bessette as priest-
in-charge.

In 1953 the mission had been able to set aside about $8,000 for a combina-
tion rectory and parish hall. With this amount on hand, Bishop Conkling
promised a grant of $8,500 as soon as St. Clement's achieved parish status. As
a result of this promise by the Bishop and because of growth in membership
and better financial conditions a meeting was called by Father Bessette for the
purpose of organizing a parish. This meeting was held on March 16, 1953 with

137

56 communicants present. At this meeting, presided over by Father Bessette,
Mr. Robert C. Pebworth was elected as its first Senior Warden, Mr. Henry C.
Edwards as the first Junior Warden. The members of the first Vestry were Mr.
Walter Haines, who was the son of one of the founders of St. Clement's, Mr.
Clarence Hercules, Mr. A. G. Campbell, Mr. Edward Bukwa, Mr. E. R. Bacon,
and Mr. Dexter Smith. Then the vestry elected, with the approval of Bishop
Conkling, Father Bessette as the first rector. On May 5, 1953 St. Clement's
was received as a parish in union with the Convention of the Diocese of
Chicago.

A great deal of time during the balance of 1953 and most of 1954 was taken
up by the Vestry and members of the parish for the building of the rectory and
parish hall. By November 1954 the parish hall and part of the rectory were
completed at the cost of $23,000. Then in 1956 upon the announcement of
Father Bessette's impending marriage, the parish was in a position to complete
the rectory, to build a garage to house the rector's car, and to remodel the
kitchen in the church basement. This work was completed in September, 1956
at a cost of about $10,000. The contractor who completed this work was Mr.
James Haines, the grandson of one of the founders and the son of one of the
first Vestrymen.

In 1960 the parish installed a new heating plant, purchased a new organ
and did some remodeling to the church, at a cost of $5,587.

Pastors serving St. Clement's through the years are: Reverend Joseph
Rushton (1898-1899), George D. Wright (1899-1902), W. H. Mitchell
(1902), J. M. Johnson (1903), J. O. Ward (1903), C. A. Cummings (1907-
1909), Frank E. Wilson (1910-1912), Myron G. Agrus (1913-1916), Louis
A. Parker (1917), George D. Barr (1918), Herbert E. Parkinson (1918-
1922), Roy H. Fairchild (1923-1927), John McKinney (1927), Wayne Gar-
rard (1928-1935), Wilford C. Cross, first resident priest, (1935-1937),
Arthur M. McLaughlin (1937-1947), William R. Cook (1947-1948), Theodore
A. Bessette, First Rector, (1948).

EVANGELIGAL CHURCH OF PEACE

When Harvey was founded and factories began to locate a number of
German-speaking Christians came to the community to establish their homes.
Included were many from the adjacent areas of Grant Park, Beecher, and
Homewood.

There being no Evangelical church these people with mutual religious in-
terests met and held informal services in the home of Mr. William Pecht every
other week.

For a time the group was served by the Reverend H. Kroencke of Ham-
mond, Indiana but the need for a more formal place to worship became in-
creasingly pronounced. So, on February 16, 1891 the Reverend C. Schaub ofi
Mokena, Illinois, the Reverend R. Krueger of Green Garden, Illinois, the Rev-
erend G. Koch of Beecher, Illinois and the Reverend Mr. Kroencke made the
money available to the interested families for the building of a church home.

On March 24, 1891 the families organized themselves into a congregation
under the supervision of the Reverend Mr. Kroencke, a site was purchased at
15300 Center Avenue for $1,600 and a church erected. It was dedicated on
April 5, 1891 with the Reverend H. Wolf, then district president of the North
Illinois District preaching the dedication sermon. First officers of the congrega-
tion were William Pecht, Klaus Meier, J. Vorkaufer, C. Wanner and C. Tordt.

138

Later the congregation purchased a building on Loomis Avenue but this
was sold and for short periods the Swedish Methodist Church at 153rd Street
and Loomis Avenue was rented. After that the congregation met for a time in
the Swedish Lutheran Church at 153rd Street and Lexington Avenue.

On December 1, 1926 plans were drawn up by William Jones of Chicago
for a new building and the general contract was subsequently let to a Harvey
firm, the Hobson Construction Company.

The cornerstone was laid in an impressive service on July 17, 1927 with the
Reverend C. Shaeffer of Hammond, Indiana, delivering the dedicatory sermon.
Then, on October 16 of the same year the church was dedicated with the
Reverend Mr. Schick, president of the North Illinois District, and the Reverend
Mr. Fruechte, chairman of the Mission Board, presenting the main speeches.

The new building, erected at 152nd Street and Lexington Avenue, is even
today, one of the community's most attractive structures.

From the time of the organization until 1924 the church had no resident
preacher. The duties were shared by Evangelical clergymen from Dolton, Blue
Island. Homewood and Roseland.

However, in 1924, after giving the church considerable financial aid, the
Home Mission Board placed the Reverend E. J. Koch here as the resident min-
ister. He remained for slightly more than a year when he was succeeded by
the Reverend E. H. Stommel, who served from December, 1926 to February,
1930. It was during his pastorate that the present church was built.

Succeeding pastors were the Reverend A. F. Dexheimer (1930-1933), Rev-
erend G. P. Ellerbrake (1933-1938), the Reverend Lloyd Hegeman (1938-
1945), Reverend E. Kleffman (1945-1950), Reverend Robert Vornholt (1951-
1956), Reverend D. Babbitt (1956-1957) and the Reverend L. J. F. Stuck-
wsich (1958 to the present).

Church history indicates that although the Evangeligal Church first ad-
ministered to German speaking Christians, its services were gradually trans-
formed to the English language. About 1940 the German language was com-
pletely abandoned and ministeries here, as elsewhere in the nation, are conduc-
ted in English.

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH

There were but a few Lutherans in the city in 1896 and 1897 but interest
among those few was high enough to arrange for services twice each month in
members' homes under the direction of the Reverend C. M. Noack, then pastor
of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Dolton.

It was in 1898 after the Reverend Mr. Noack had transferred to a charge in
Iowa that the Reverend M. H. Fedderson was called to Harvey to officiate at a
baptismal from his church at Coopers Grove. While here he met Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Tegal and from this acquaintanceship the idea of a Harvey Lutheran
church emanated.

"When the roads became passable in the Spring of 1899 a committee,
formed to canvass the community, went to work," church documents record.

The first public service was held on June 4, 1899 in the little schoolhouse
at 151st and Morgan Streets with ten adults and five children in attendance.
This was the beginning, and for the following two years and nine months Ger-
man services were held twice each month. The Reverend Mr. Fedderson, who
continued to administer to the small group, came to the community each Sunday

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— either, history says, "by horse and buggy or on horseback if the mud was
too deep."

In the summer of 1902 the Reverend Mr. Fedderson turned the charge
over to the Reverend Henry Wind of the Dolton Lutheran Church, partially
because the latter was able to make the trip by train. It was under the guidance
of Pastor Wind that Trinity Lutheran Church was officially organized on
February 8, 1903 with the following charter members: George Greiner, St.,
Henry Tegal, Emil Rohrdanz, Adolph Lehmann, George Greiner, Jr., Christian
Hieber, Edward Schroeder, Charles Seams, John Busch and Carl Staack. The
Messers Rohrdanz, Greiner, St., and Lehmann became the first elders.

In June, 1903 a lot was purchased at 129 East 153rd Street for $115.
Upon it was erected a chapel costing $1,200 which was dedicated on September
13, 1903. Services were held in German every other Sunday afternoon from
that point until 1918.

On August 25th of that year the Reverend Rudolph L. Geffert, newly
graduated from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, was installed as
Trinity's first resident pastor of the congregation numbering 75. It is significant,
that the Reverend Mr. Geffert, therefore, is the only resident pastor in the
history of the Trinity church. It is significant, also, that his long tenure makes
him the dean of all members of the clergy in this community.

Two years after his arrival, the Reverend Mr. Geffert and his faithful con-
gregation bought the old First Presbyterian Church at 15316 Center Avenue for
$18,000 and the old chapel was sold to the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

In October, 1941, the church purchased the home at 15424 Loomis Avenue
for use as a parsonage. Its cost was $8,500.

In November, 1945, the church bought a plot of ground facing 150th
Street, extending 200 feet south on Ashland and Paulina A.enues for a price
of $12,000 and in early 1950 an architect, William Kramer of Forest Park,
Illinois, was retained to design a church and parish hall.

Ground-breaking ceremonies were held on the site on September 10, 1950
and cornerstone-laying rites on a rainy afternoon on May 27, 1951. The dedica-
tion of what is undoubtedly one of the most magnificent church structures in
the community was held on March 16, 1952 at morning and evening services,
a total of 1,641 attending.

Cost of the edifice was $171,775.

During the summer of 1959 a seven-room parsonage connected directly
with the church was built. A full basement, fully soundproofed, serves as
classrooms for the Primary Department of the Sunday School. This portion of
the property was erected at a cost of $63,000.

Church history indicates that between 1903 and 1961 a total of 849 persons
were baptized, 593 were admitted to communicant membership by the rite of
confirmation, 281 couples were united in marriage and 218 persons were given
burial.

Present roster of the church consists of 554 baptized members, which in-
cludes 457 communicant members.

From September 1, 1918 to December 31, 1961, Pastor Geffert conducted
4,090 worship services with a total attendance of 468,515 worshippers. From
1918 to 1945 an English and a German service was held every Sunday.

The present officers of the congregation (January 1, 1962) are Fred
Jurate, president; Gerald Hirsch, vice-president; Ronald Bark, secretary; Will-
iam Spelde, treasurer; Henry Blankenburg and Eugene Rickstaedt, financial
secretaries; Arthur Krabbe, Anthony Spelde, and Henry Seehausen, Elders;

140

Fred Jurate, Edward Buss, William Schultz, and Glen Kepper, trustees; Walter
Schmaedeke and Mrs. Dorothy Nowak, organists.

Church organizations include: Aid Society, Mrs. Ruth Langhout, president;
Evening Guild, Mrs. Mary Spelde, president; Walther League, Miss Sheryl
Peters, president; Men's Club, William Schultz, president; Valparaiso University
Guild, Mrs. Meta Geffert, president; Sewing Circle, Mrs. Viola Haderer,
president.

CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE

In the month of June, 1915, the Reverend and Mrs. Warren C. Jones,
pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Chicago Heights, held a two-week tent
meeting in Harvey on the present site of the United States postoffice.

Prominent at the meeting were Mr. and Mrs. Otto Siegrist, who continued
to come to Harvey after the tent meetings had concluded, conducting similar
meetings in a store building at 15326 Columbia Avenue for a period of 18
months.

During that span the work of the Siegrists was augmented by the Reverend
F. M. Messenger of Chicago Heights and other pastors from Chicago First
Church and the Hammond First Church.

The members continued to worship there until 1919 when they purchased
a small church at 15220 Loomis Avenue from the Evangelical Church of
Peace for $1,500. The building was used for a period of four years then sold
to the Geeding family.

Playing important roles in the formal organization of the church were,
first, Reverend Harry H. Lee, then the Reverend C. A. Brown, district super-
intendent of the Chicago Central district. Eleven persons constituted the mem-
bership.

After selling the Loomis Avenue structure, the congregation rented the
Swedish Methodist Church at the corner of 153rd Street and Loomis Avenue.

In 1937, while the Reverend I. G. Young was pastor, the church purchased
several lots at the northwest corner of 153rd Street and Marshfield Avenue and
erected a basement chapel at a cost of $10,000. The first service was held there
of February 20, 1938. Three years later, under the pastorate of the Reverend
J. J. Gough, the building was completed and was formally dedicated by Gen-
eral Superintendent J. B. Chapman on February 8, 1942.

In 1943 the parsonage at 15115 Paulina Avenue was bought and in 1950
the congregation bought property adjacent to the church for use as a Sunday
School annex. An educational unit was built in 1958 at a cost of $1 10,000.

The church since its formal organization has been served by the following
pastors: Lon S. McKay (1919), C. A. Condon (1919-1922), L. H. Howe
(1922-1931), I. G. Young (1931-1938), J. J. Gough (1938-1943), C. I. De-
Board (1943-1949), R. W. Sheppard (1949-1952), C. K. Sparks (1952-1959),
Fred Foster (1959-to the present).

Congregation members who have become ministers are James H. Lyons,
Ted DeBolt, Sam McKay and Walter Geeding.

The Harvey church has helped sponsor Blue Island, Tinley Park and
Dolton churches.

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH

First Christian Church of Harvey was organized in the fall of 1892 by C. H.

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Knapp, a businessman but also an ordained minister. The charter group was
composed of Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Kenyon, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Joslyn, Mrs.
Maggie Nichols, Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Masher, Mr. and Mrs. John Scoan,
Mrs. Jessie Marr, Mrs. C. R. Palmer and Mrs. W. W. Wood. None of these
members is known to be living in 1962.

About two weeks after its organization the congregation elected J. C. Figg
as elder and for the subsequent two years worship services were held on the
third floor of the building at 15333 Broadway. Reverend Knapp, after his first
year, sold his business and moved from the community. He was succeeded as
pastor by the Rev. Mr. McKay, who served for the following three years.

While Mr. McKay was pastor in 1895 the church purchased a lot at the
corner of 153rd Street and Lexington Avenue and while the new church struc-
ture was being built services were held in the city hall.

The new building was used for about 10 years when it was sold to the
First Lutheran Church and part of the proceeds of the sale used to buy two
lots at 15323 Turlington Avenue. The balance of the proceeds was used to
construct a stone block edifice, which still serves the congregation.

The Building Committee consisted of W. G. Morse, Judge C. H. Apple-
gate and J. C. Figg, who were trustees from 1905 to 1910. Under the guidance
of Mr. Figg construction was completed and the church dedicated in 1908
under the pastorate of the Rev. Sam Buckner.

Ministers who had served the church up to the completion <af the building
were W. W. Denham, J. S. Clements, F. B. Ferrall, T. A. Lindenmeyer, W. E.
Orr, Robert Wilson, C. W. Dean, L. S. Buckner, J. J. Higgs and Benjamin
Borton.

From 1907 to 1919 the church was served by the following ministers: W. D.
Enders, Asa McDaniel and C. M. Smithson, with the latter serving for seven
years. Serving as trustees then were George Sidle, Martin Barkmeier and W.
W. Coale.

The Rev. E. F. Winkler served the congregation in 1920 and 1921, then
was succeeded by the Rev. James A. Barrett who served in 1922 and 1923. It
was during the latter year that T. W. Simer? a young man of the church who
was to return later as pastor, began his preparation for the ministry at Eureka
College. He was ordained in 1924 while the Rev. Lafe Hoff was pastor here.

In 1926 the pastorate was assumed by the Rev. G. Lolin Eaton who re-
mained until 1928.

The Rev. Mr. Simer returned to his home church as pastor in 1928 after
completing five years of study at Eureka and remained at the postition until
March, 1952. His was the longest tenure of any pastor.

The year following, two other young men of the church, George Eylander
and Glenn Armstrong, were ordained. The church held its first homecoming on
October 30, 1932 and during that same year the Dorcas Society, woman's
group, was formed.

Other marks of progress in the church history include the ordination in
1933 of Nicholas Ortman, the founding of the first Vacation Bible School in
1935, the ordination of Kenneth Patton in the same year.

In September, 1940 ground was broken at the rear of the church for a new
educational unit, needed because of the increased Sunday School membership.

The new unit was dedicated at the annual homecoming service in 1941 and
classes met there for the first time in November of that year.

In 1944 the mortgage on the unit was burned at the annual homecoming.

In 1950 the congregation approved enlarging the church sanctuary and the

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work was completed a year later, being dedicated on March 11.

The Rev. Mr. Simer completed his long pastorate in 1952 when he accepted
a charge in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He was succeeded by the Rev. Mr.
Ashton on September 28, 1952. The Rev. David G. Ashton remained for six
years.

Guest pastors filled the pulpit from September 1, 1958, when the Rev. Mr.
Ashton resigned, until February I, 1959 when the Rev. Oral C. Lowe, present
pastor, accepted the charge. The Rev. Mr. Lowe, widely known in Harvey
church circles, is currently serving as president of the Harvey Ministerial
Association.

The church organization presently consists of a board of twelve elders and
thirty deacons. There are twenty-four deaconesses who assist with baptisms,
communion services and who visit ailing members and shut-ins. Chairman of
the official board is Carmen Ruffalo. Robert Huffstutler is chairman of the
deacons and Mrs. Imo Gibbs of the deaconesses.

A planning committee, headed by Thomas Riddle, Jr. is presently studying
possible new building sites.

THE FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH
FORMERLY THE TABOR LUTHERAN CHURCH

At a meeting held on December 22, 1891, the Swedish Lutherans of Harvey
organized the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Tabor Church. The meeting was
attended by 33 charter members and presided over by the Rev. C. Granath.
Rev. E. A. Zetterstrand served as secretary.

They adopted the Augustana Synod constitution and applied for admission
to the Illinois Conference and the Augustana Synod.

Those listed as charter members were: A. V. Svenson and family, G. W.
Lundquist, Selma O. Anderson, Hilda C. Anderson, O. G. Lundquist, Andrew
West and family, Christina Carlson, Emil Carlson, C. Mallstrom and family,
Alfred T. Carlson, Gustaf Carslon, C. F. Lindgren and family, C. G. Ackerholm
and family, Gustaf Erickson, F. J. Lindberg, Gustaf Johnson, Victor Nord-
quist, S. M. Rundquist and family.

The first deacons elected were A. W. West, A. V. Swenson, C. G. Acker-
holm. In 1892 the congregation was received into the Illinois Conference of
the Augustana Synod.

In order to establish itself further the congregation, at a meeting held in
April, 1892, decided to raise funds to purchase lots at 153rd Street and Myrtle
Avenue. The trustees were given authority to go ahead as soon as $100 could
be raised, and $600 was set aside as the top price which the congregation would
pay for the lots.

Pastor Zetterstrand served until 1893, when in September Rev. H. O.
Lindeblad was called to preach at least twice a month for a salary of $2.00 per
visit. In 1894 Rev. Aron Lindholm was given a similar call but he was paid
$2.75 per visit.

From 1895 to 1898 the congregation was served by a student, Mr. Person,
and during 1895 an unsuccessful attempt was made to unite with Siloa, Blue
Island, with Harvey to pay $175 of the pastor's salary. The congregation made
its first petition for aid from the home mission fund of the Augustana Synod,
beginning June 1, 1895, in the amount of $125 per year, and at the request of
the mission district a vice pastor, Rev. G. Lundahl of South Chicago was elected

143

in February, 1897. That same year it was decided to begin a Sunday school.

0. N. Runquist was elected superintendent, followed in 1898 by C. R. Eckman.
There were 15 children enrolled.

The congregation now attempted to call pastors who could serve regularly.
Tabor, together with Siloa of Blue Island, called the Rev. A. P. Martin of
California and he served from 1898 to 1901.

Because the depression forced many families to move from the community,
the family membership dropped to six and services were held at the Swedish
Methodist Church. Student Ministers E. K. Johnson and O. O. Eackhardt
served the congregation.

In April, 1904, a committee was appointed to continue efforts to obtain a
site and plan for a new building.

Such a site was acquired on Lexington Avenue between 151st and 152nd
Streets, but the two lots were traded off for others at 153rd Street and Lexing-
ton Avenue. A church building was bought from the First Christian Church
in 1905.

From 1907 to 1909 the Rev. P. O. Bersell of Chicago Heights served as vice
pastor, although the congregation continued to be served by students.

In 1909 the Harvey and Blue Island churches were served by the Rev. V.
Setterdahl who pioneered English services in two Sunday School classes.
Previously only Swedish had been used.

The Rev. Mr. Setterdahl died in 1914.

The new pastor, Rev. Carl Lund, was called from the seminary and began
his work on August 1, 1915. During his tenure a Luther league of forty mem-
bers and a choir of twenty voices were formed.

During the pastorate of the Rev. O. O. Eckhardt which began on October

1, 1918 electric lights were installed and the church was renovated.

The next pastor to be called was the Rev. J. A. Hemborg, who preached his
farewell sermon in 1924. He was succeeded by the Rev. Edward Stark who, in
turn, was succeeded in 1930 by the Rev. C. A. Tolin under whose pastorate
all business sessions v/ere conducted in English, as were the records.

On November 9, 1938 the Rev. Mr. Tolin resigned and was replaced by
the Rev. Luther Knock.

In 1941, year of the church's 50th anniversary f the congregation bought a
house at 15113 Paulina Avenue for use as a parsonage and it was so dedicated
on October 19th.

The present pastor, the Rev. Earl W. Carlson, began his service in 1954
and under his guidance the church has made tremendous growth. Anticipating
the need for a more adequate church building, a fund was started a year prior
to the pastor's arrival. Seven years later a site was purchased at 150th Street
and Myrtle Avenue and in 1960 architects were retained to design a building.
Preliminary drawings were accepted on September 29 and in February of 1961
working drawings were completed and bids asked.

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in a blinding snowstorm on April
16 and quite the reverse was true when the cornerstone was laid in the midst
of an extreme heat wave.

On January 25, 1962 moving to the new structure was completed and the
first worship service was held on February 4. It was dedicated in impressive
rites on April 8.

Those who played prominent roles in the church's most important under-
taking were the members of the Building Committee: William Belt, chairman,
James Snow, Leif Larsen, Robert Blonquist, Virgil Coppock, Roy Freese,

144

Walter Hegstrom, William Nodeen, Elmer Olson, Elsa Rehberg, James Thor-
stad and Sigfried Wilson.

CALVARY TEMPLE ASSEMBLY OF GOD

Located at 153rd Street and Loomis Avenue, the Calvary Temple Assembly
of God had its origin in 1931 in a tabernacle on Broadway just north of 155th
Street.

First pastors were a famous team of twin sisters, Ethel and Mildred Covert,
who were to become widely known as not only preachers of fervor but talented
musicians.

When the congregation rented the Swedish Methodist Church at 153rd
Street and Loomis Avenue in 1937 the pastor became the Rev. Ronald Bayles.
Services were held at this location until 1943 when the Swedish congregation
which shared the building, disbanded and sold the property to Calvary Temple
Assembly.

A new church arose on the property in 1951 under the leadership of its
pastor, the Rev. William J. Sawyers who still serves the congregation.

ST. NICHOLAS UKRANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

St. Nicholas Ukranian Orthodox church was incorporated on August 27,
1953 by a small but enthusiastic group of parishioners.

Services were conducted first in the Ukranian National Home on Page
Avenue, which became church property in 1954.

Property for a new church had been bought in 1953 upon the arrival of
the Rev. Eustachius Pysar as resident pastor and on July 22, 1956 the Most
Reverend Archbishop Hennady officiated at the laying of the cornerstone on
the property at 14832 Page Avenue.

The Rev. Father Pysar served the parish until 1960 when the Rev. Boris
Zabrodsky became the pastor.

FIRST CHURCH OF GOD

The First Church of God was formed in 1930 and worship services were
held in the old Washington School at 154th Street and Honore Avenue.

The rapidly growing congregation bought a site for a new church at 14701
Myrtle Avenue and groundbreaking services were held on November 23, 1958
with the cornerstone being laid on September 15. 1959. The building was dedi-
cated on May 14, 1961.

The present pastor is the Rev. Billy G. Waters. He was preceded in the
pulpit by the Rev. George Earnest, the Rev. Charles O. Thrawl, the Rev. John
Kolar. the Rev. Andv Carpenter, the Rev. Frederick Wright, and the Rev.
Willie Ray.

HARVEY MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

On June 20. 1943. the Har\e\ Missionary Baptist Church was first estab-
lished as a mission of the Black Oak Baptist Church of Gary, Indiana by

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James T. Goin, Lloyd Moore, and Rev. Leonard Cole, then pastor of Black
Oak.

On December 12, 1943, a Southern Baptist Church was organized, being
called the Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, with 12 charter members: Willie M.
Angel, Harriet Angel, Benjamin Angel, Wayne F. Angel, Willis O. Angel, Clara
F. Angel, Ara M. Ward, William Ward, Marie McCain, James T. Goin, Valria
Goin, and Evelyn E. Reasons. The church ordained James T. Goin to the min-
istry, and called him as pastor. In March of 1946, the church changed its name
from Ashland Avenue to Ashland Missionary Baptist Church. Rev. Goin re-
signed as pastor on December 31, 1947.

The church called Rev. C. Earl Finney as pastor, and he began his ministry
May 16, 1948. In July of 1950, the church purchased the Lutheran Church
located at 15316 Center Avenue and moved into it. On August 3, 1950, the
church adopted its present name, Harvey Missionary Baptist Church. Rev. Fin-
ney resigned as pastor on February 28, 1951.

The church then called Rev. Edward Lee on June 10, 1951. Rev. Lee re-
signed on September 18, 1955, and Rev. John L. Grant was called. His pastoral
work began on December 4, 1956.

The church purchased four lots at 154th Street and Lincoln Avenue, south-
west corner, and on September 23, 1956, held its ground breaking service.
Work began on the new church October 1, 1956.

Rev. Grant resigned as pastor in January, 1957. Rev. W. W. Dishongh was
called as pastor, and began his ministry on March 4, 1957.

The new building was under construction with Rev. Dishongh's coming,
being about one third completed. On July 7, 1957, the first regular Sunday
services were held in the new building. On July 28, 1957, the church had its
dedication service. Rev. W. W. Dishongh resigned as pastor on January 26?
1958. The church called Rev. Virgil Lascelles as pastor to begin his work here
on June 1, 1958.

On May 10, 1959 a ground breaking service for the new educational build-
ing was held. Work began on the $96,000.00 addition on May 7, 1962.

BETHEL REFORMED CHURCH

On July 26, 1936, a group of twenty-one people met in a store building in
Phoenix for a worship service. The following winter the group began to meet
in the Coolidge School of Phoenix. By October 6, 1937 this work had pro-
gressed to the point where "The Bethel Reformed Church of Phoenix, Illinois"
was organized with thirty-nine communicant members and four baptized
members.

In the spring of 1939, the Rev. John Buteyn became the first full time pastor
of the congregation. Two summers later, in 1941, the congregation dedicated a
new church building erected on property donated by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
Tromp.

In 1946, Mr. Buteyn accepted a call to another church and shortly after-
wards, the Rev. J. Robert Steegstra accepted a call to the pastorate.

In 1952 the building was moved from its South Holland location on 151st
Street and Riverside Drive, to its present location by way of Wallace Street.
The dedication of the cornerstone was made on September 21 of that year.

Pastor Steegstra left in 1955 and in May of that year the present pastor,
the Rev. Robert Wildman, assumed the pastorate.

146

CALVARY MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

On September 2, 1949, the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church was organ-
ized with fourteen charter members. The newly organized church met in the
church building which it had previously purchased at 15719 Lexington.

Under the leadership of their first pastor, Rev. L. G. Novell, the present
parsonage at 15723 Paulina was acquired. A mission, now the Hazelgreen
Baptist Church, was also established during his ministry.

The Reverend John Hardie became the pastor in September of 1951. His
ministry was marked by a period of church growth along with several improve-
ments to the church and parsonage properties.

The Reverend James George succeeded Pastor Hardie. During his nearly
four years of ministry, the church purchased the property of its present build-
ing and facilities, located at 157th and Wood Streets. When the basement was
completed, the church held services there.

During the actual construction of the new building, the Rev. Clem Morse
served as pastor. The Reverend David C. Brown accepted the pastorate in June
of 1960, following Reverend Mr. Morse's resignation. During the past two
years, the building and grounds have been completed at a total cost of
$81,000.00. Over 100 new members have been added to the church making a
total membership of approximately three hundred.

The church building was dedicated on June 4, 1961.

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148

CLUBS AND LODGES

149

150

GARCIA MORENO COUNCIL
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

Responsible for the founding of Garcia Moreno Council No. 1660 was one
of Ascension parish's most loved and honored pastors, the Reverend George T.
McCarthy.

Having established to the satisfaction of the order's state organization that
this was a suitable location for the formation of a council, plans were under-
taken for its institution. Assisting Father McCarthy in the original planning
were William E. Powers, St., John Keys and William Cairns.

Preliminary work was directed by Samuel E. Cook, district deputy, and of-
ficers of the Blue Island, Chicago Heights, San Salvador of Roseland and Santa
Maria councils collaborated in conferring first degrees to a charter class of 90
members on October 6, 1912. The council was named. for Garcia Moreno, a
great statesman and South American liberator.

The class included many Harvey men who had previously held Knights of
Columbus memberships in other area councils. Selected to head the organiza-
tion during its first years were: William E. Powers, Grand Knight; Howard
Schultz, Deputy Grand Knight; James Munro, Chancellor; C. O. Whalen, Re-
corder; Henry Hilgendorf, Financial Secretary; William Horan, Treasurer; and
the Reverend Father McCarthy, Chaplain.

The first activity of the council was to raise funds for the establishment of
a parochial school, the members pledging themselves to provide the necessary
capital and labor to rebuild and refurbish the Columbus school hall on 153rd
Street to the rear of the Ascension Church.

Since that time the council has remained active in the affairs of the parish
and in the general welfare of the area. In this direction its members raised a
total of $ 1 ,000 for welfare work during the years of World War I.

Many charitable and fraternal activities have been sponsored by the council
during its history. At Christmas time many baskets were prepared for distribu-
tion by members to the area needy and the council contributed substantially to
the order's Cook county program of providing food and entertainment for in-
mates of orphans' homes and homes for the aged, and providing scholarships
in every Catholic high school and many colleges in the state and nation.

Through the years the council has also underwritten numerous athletic
activities including the outfitting of teams in local softball and baseball leagues.
It was also active over many years in basketball and for a long period of time
had one of the area's outstanding amateur aggregations.

For many years the council met at a home on Center Avenue between
154th and 155th Streets, but a growing membership soon outgrew the facility
and it was sold as the first step in a program which saw the council erect its
own home at 15100 Page Avenue in September, 1958. Today, the membership
has grown to approximately 540.

Prior to the purchase of the home on Center Avenue the council had met
at various places, the Knights of Pythias hall and the Odd Fellows hall.

Grand Knights who have guided the council through its years of success
are: W. E. Powers, Sr. (1912-1913), James Munro (1914), Joseph Falherty
(1915-1916), John Scully (1917), Daniel Bradley (1918), J. J. O'Rourke
(1919), Arthur Broderick (1920-1921), Henry Hilgendorf (1922-1923), Will-
iam Powers, Jr. (1926), Leo White and James Weeks (1927), William D.
OHara (1928), John Obernesser (1929-1930), Joseph Reardon (1931-1932),
W. J. Gibson (1933-1934), Al St. Aubin (1935-1936), Romeo Begnoche

151

(1937-1938), James Mann (1938-1940), John Mech (1941-1942), John Kerk-
hoven (1943-1944), Charles Wissel (1945-1946), Earl Roach (1947-1948),
Ralph T. Crean (1949-1950), Thomas Yadron (1951-1952), Vernon Voss
(1953-1954), Joseph Doheny (1955), Leon Gavin (1956), Walter Septoski
(1957-1959), Tony Jablonski (1960), John McDonough (1961), Joseph
Brosnan (1962).

HARVEY WOMAN'S CLUB

The movement for National Suffrage for Women encouraged many activi-
ties. In 1913 Mrs. Anna Bostoph invited members of the Twentieth Century
Club, Art and Travel Club, Child Study Club, Anti-Cigarette league, Suffrage
Association, and several reading clubs to her home for the purpose of organiz-
ing the Harvey Woman's Club. One hundred and twenty-five women came to
the meeting. Of these, eighty joined immediately.

"The object of this organization shall be mutual culture, enlargement of
scoial life, and united work for better civic conditions," the club's by-laws read.

The first president, Mrs. Anna Bostoph, served from 1913 to 1915. The
list of twenty-six past presidents from 1913 to 1962 is a reminder of families
who have been closely associated with the growth of Harvey.

In the beginning there were two departments in the club, Art and Litera-
ture and Social Economics. Shortly afterward, the club was divided into seven
departments, each department sponsoring one meeting during the year. The
latest revision of department of work results in these: American Citizenship
and International Relations, American Home, Education and Legislation, Fine
Arts, Literature, Radio, Television and Motion Pictures, and Welfare.

The Harvey Woman's Club almost immediately affiliated with the Illinois
Federation of Women's Clubs. The club has continuously participated in the
work of the Third District, thus sharing in state and national projects of
women's clubs.

During the forty-eight years of its existence, the Woman's Club has con-
tributed in many ways to the culture, the social life, and the betterment of civic
conditions in this city. Among the accomplishments for civic betterment was
the first "clean-up-day"in Harvey, for which one hundred dollars was raised
by a home talent play. The erection of street signs and the placing of refuse
cans in the business district were other contributions.

The Club's interest in parks and playgrounds was shown in several practical
ways: the donation of seats for a small park, shrubbery for the city park and
later a four hundred dollar gift to parks and play grounds. One member, Mrs.
Gaston, presented a drinking fountain. As was true of most groups during
World War I, members of the club gave service in Liberty Loans drives and
Red Cross sewing.

Support of Ingalls Memorial Hospital has been continuously a part of the
Club's program. When the hospital was organized the club gave five hundred
dollars toward furnishing a room and guaranteed $52.50 yearly toward its
maintenance, an amount now increased to $75 yearly. For the building fund
for the 1959 addition, the club pledged and gave one thousand dollars. The
YMCA building fund also was given twelve hundred and fifty dollars by the
club between 1950 and 1960.

These are the big donations, but each year's budget shows interest in and
financial support for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Glenwood School for Boys, Grade
and High School Bands (in their formative years), as well as funds for Heart,

152

Cancer, Tuberculosis and Red Cross. Thus, the budgets show continuous in-
terest in all civic affairs.

In 1932, a lack of funds threatened to close the elementary schools. The
Board of Education appealed to the club for assistance in the sale of tax war-
rants and it responded.

The welfare work of the club reflects the needs of the times. During the de-
pression years of 1931 and 1932 a soup kitchen for the schools was sponsored.
Needy families were given clothing and food baskets; tubercular children
were assisted and the Red Cross was given generous contributions. The club has
long shown an active interest in the Oak Forest Infirmary. Members regularly
make friendly visits to residents and bring little extras of food and magazines
as well as materials for use in the Occupational Therapy Shop. For several
years the Welfare Committee has been welcomed at Manteno State Hospital,
where they provide entertainment and refreshments for selected groups of
patients.

For more than twenty years the club, through the Education Committee,
has sponsored an Education Loan Fund, available to a Thornton Township
High School graduate residing in Harvey and wishing to attend Junior College
or any other educational institution. Recently as more scholarships have been
available and costs of education have risen, the policy has been changed, to
give a worthy student a cash scholarship, renewable, to help him complete his
college education.

It is impossible in this short account to list the occasions on which club
representatives have cooperated with other civic groups on community projects,
but they have been numerous.

Regular meetings of the club bring to the members a large variety of enter-
taining and informative programs as well as an opportunity for friendly social
contacts.

Many of the city's most public-spirited and civically-conscious women have
served the club as president. Included are: Mrs. Anna Bostaph (1913-1915),
Mrs. Frederic R. 'DeYoung (1915-1917), Mrs. W. G. Morse (1917-1919),
Mrs. A. C. Huling (1919-1920), Mrs. ' W. H. Davis (1920-1922), Mrs.
Elizabeth McVey (1922-1923), Mrs. Roy W. Barringer (1923-1925), Mrs.
Harris Dante (1925-1927), Mrs. Homer Benton (1927-1929), Mrs. Milton
Waterman (1929-1931), Mrs. G. A. Stevenson (1931-1933), Mrs. J. E.
Trieschmann (1933-1935), Mrs. H. L. Mills (1935-1937), Mrs. W. C. Knaub
(1937-1939), Mrs. E. W. Gouwens (1939-1941), Mrs. L. F. Conklin (1941-
1942), Mrs. George P. Fisher (1942-1944), Mrs. Clifford Maddox (1944-
1946), Mrs. John E. Yates (1946-1948), Mrs. Kathleen Wiseman (1948-
1950), Mrs. Carl Mendenhall (1950-1952), Mrs. A. A. Winterbauer (1952-
1954),' Mrs. John C. O'Hara (1954-1956), Mrs. L. C. Mortrud (1956-1958),
Mrs. A. A. Winterbauer (1959-1960), Mrs. James J. Conlan (1960-1961),
Mrs. Richard B. Van Haaften (1961-1962).

HARVEY OPTIMIST CLUB

The Harvey Optimist Club, local branch of Optimist International, was
chartered on March 24, 1938 at a banquet held in a Homewood restaurant. In
attendance were representatives of many of the community's civic clubs as well
as Optimist Clubs from throughout the district.

The charter was presented by Emil Bloche, district governor, to some 40
charter members. Eugene Barna was named the first president.

153

The major purpose of the Optimist Club is to be a "constant friend of the
boy" and much of its effort is centered around providing activities for the
city's youth. Through the years Junior Optimist Clubs have been formed and
the club has served the community's younger generation in many constructive
ways.

The original boys' program was organized by Benjamin J. Sachs, a local
attorney, who was a club vice president.

Others who guided the club through its fledgling years were: Don Rexer,
John Van Vorst, Robert E. Blonquist, vice presidents; Herbert C. Berggren,
secretary-treasurer; Gust Melonas, sergeant-at-arms; and James E. Henderson,
Harold J. Miller, Paul Wible and E. E. Myrick, members of the board of gov-
ernors.

Originally meetings were held weekly in the basement of the old fire sta-
tion, later at the Green Shingle restaurant. Periodically meeting places were
changed and at different times in the club's history these sessions were held at
Tompkin's Tea Room. Fueher's Restaurant, Bob's Restaurant, Joe's Thorn-
ridge Restaurant, Perry's Restaurant and, since 1945 continuously at Cavallini's
Restaurant in Midlothian.

As a member of Optimist International, the Harvey club shares this phil-
osophy: to promote an active interest in good government and civic affairs, to
inspire respect for law, to promote patriotism and work for international accord
and friendship, to aid and encourage the development of youth." Its slogan is
"Friend of the Boy."

The activities of the club have expanded greatly through the years and it
owns the distinction of sponsoring more youth activities than any single civic
organization.

Included in its benevolences are sponsorships of Little league, Babe Ruth
league and minor league baseball teams; Boys Citizenship Camps; Boy Scout
camps; oratorical contests, Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs.

Although the Optimists have used various methods through the years of
raising funds to underwrite these activities, the most successful by far has been
the Harvey Community Forum programs, staged each year during the winter
season.

The Forum, now in its 19th year, presents many features of wide interest
although in late years concentration has been on travel film-lectures which the
club has found, have the widest appeal to local audiences. Demand for tickets
is so great that this project alone provides the funds necessary to underwrite the
club's vast boys' program.

Many of the community's outstanding young men have served the organiza-
tion as president and under their leadership the club has gained wide reputation
as perhaps the city's most active civic organization. These presidents are:
Eugene Barna (1938-1939), Don Rexer (1939-1940), John Van Horst (1940-
1941), Robert E. Blonquist (1940-1942), H. J. Miller (1942-1943), Howard
Cohenour (1942-1944), James Henderson (1944-1945), Donald Degenhart
(1945-1946), Herbert Berggren (1946-1947), Clarence Weiser (1947-1948),
Leonard Helfrich (1948-1949), Carl Mendenhall (1949-1950), Richard Barr
(1950-1951), Roy Freese (1951-1952), John Abraham (1952-1953), Julius
Badis (1953-1954), Gust Melonas (1954-1955), Les Lyon (1955-1956), Floyd
Clements (1956-1957), Wilbur Overman (1957-1958), Earl Roeder (1958-
1959), William Gibson (1959-1950), Don Myers (1960-1961), Ralph Hale
(1961-1962), William Graff (1962-1963).

The Harvey club has also gained wide recogntiion in Optimist circles and

154

two of its members have gone on to election as governors of District 12, Opti-
mist International, which district includes cities in the northern half of the
state of Illinois. These members are Herbert C. Berggren and Robert E.
Blonquist. Blonquist also served as district secretary-treasurer for two years,
and as lieutenant-governor for two years.

The club has produced several district lieutenant governors including Julius
Badis, Richard Barr and Carl Mendenhall. Wilbur Overman served a year as
district secretary-treasurer.

The extent of the Optimist International contributions to the general wel-
fare of the nation is indicated in the organization's 1960 report. It shows that
Optimist clubs have contacted over 1,700,000 boys during that year at an ex-
penditure of $3,750,000. On the community service level the report shows a
total of 55,000,000 people reached at an expenditure of $1,000,000. Optimist
owned boys' work property including homes, clubhouses, etc. are valued at
$16,000,000.

From an original 1 1 clubs which attended the international organization's
convention in Louisville, Kentucky in 1919, it has grown to a total of more
than 900 clubs with a membership of over 75,000.

THE AMERICAN LEGION

Harvey Post 155, The American Legion, was founded on September 15,
1919, more than 100 veterans of World War I comprising the charter role.

The initial meeting was held in the city hall and resulted in the election of
Louis H. Geiman as the first commander. Meetings continued to be held in
the city hall until 1922 and for the subsequent two years were held in the
Thompson building at 153rd Street and Broadway. At other times meetings were
held in the Armington building on 154th Street and in a building on Turling-
ton Avenue.

In 1927 the post meetings were returned to the Thompson building and in
1934 a move was made to the Soenksen building across from the city hall.

In 1937 the post purchased the old post office site on Broadway at 153rd
Street and after a number of years of operation in the converted government
building, an ambitious building program saw the modern, attractive structure
of today evolve.

Although membership originally consisted of veterans of World War I
(membership requirements were that a veteran must have served in the military
service of the United States between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1919 and
must have received an honorable discharge), the membership was greatly in-
creased when membership eligibility was extended to veterans of World War II.
As years have passed and the original membership ranks have become depleted
or inactive, the younger war veterans have played increasingly important roles
in the conduct of the organization.

The American Legion has become a potent influence in national affairs and
many of the local members have played important roles in the civic affairs of
the community. The Legion membership maintains a close bond of comrade-
ship and also a keen interest in those who are patients in government
hospitals as the result of illnesses or wounds. This is in accord with the found-
ing principles of the organization — "to consecrate and sanctify our comrade-
ship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness."

155

Following are those who have served as commanders of the local post since
its founding:

Louis H. Geiman 1919-1920

Joseph A. Collins 1921

Leo H. Eckler 1922

H. Ward Rivers 1923

Stanley L. Walton 1924

John Dziedzina 1925

Ray F. Vincent 1926

Gerald P. Scully 1927

Rudy J. Linz 1928

Walter W. O'Connor 1929

Claude W. Gallett 1930

Viator Burton 1931

Ray Ingle 1932

Madore J. Savoie 1933

Norman C. Gallett 1934

Ace W. Skinner 1935

Richard Sharman 1936

Walter Nagell 1937

Walter G. Stansell 1938

Ralph T. Patterson 1939

Frank Cunningham 1940

Frank E. Foster 1941

Anthony W. Caproni 1942

Ireu G. Gedelman 1943

Estey W. Gouwens 1944

Roe E. Mallstrom 1945

Joseph M. Cooke 1946

Haskell W. Harr 1947

Edward F. Powers 1948

Harold L. Redding 1949

Gerald N. Wakefield 1950

Lawrence Eagen 1951

William Lassen 1952

Nelson Van Der Aa 1953

John Roorda 1954

Paul R. Jones 1955

John R. Nicholson 1956

Carmen J. Lendi 1957

Lawrence J. Fleury 1958

William Wentz 1959

Fred Katity 1960

Bela Geiser 1961

Milford Muehring 1962

Ralph Patterson 1963

156

AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY

The year following the founding of Harvey post 155, The American
legion, wives, mothers and sisters of post members organized the women's
auxiliary unit.

Heading the planning group was Mrs. Hazel Hughes and under her leader-
ship arrangements with the State Department of the Legion and its ladies'
auxiliary were made for the organization of the Harvey unit.

In March, 1921 a mass meeting of all feminine relations of war veterans
was held in the city hall and as a result a group of 68 women comprising the
charter membership was presented with official credentials by State Legion
Commander McCauley with Mayor George H. Gibson and Father McCarthy,
pastor at Ascension Church, assisting in the ceremony.

Growth was gradual rather than spectacular over the course of years,
the top membership before the conclusion of World War II having been
reached in 1938 when 142 were included on the role. In 1940 there was a
slight dip to 118, but this set the stage for a membership revival as wives,
mothers and sisters of World War II veterans joined when husbands, fathers and
brothers became associated with the men's organization.

The auxiliary carries on a continual and effective program of service to
veterans and to the community itself. It is active in veterans rehabilitation
not only in this city but in veterans hospitals throughout the Cook County
area. Child welfare occupies much of the group's attention, both in the schools
and in public institutions. In its program maximum attention is directed to-
ward the fostering of Americanism and National Defense. In general, the
auxiliary has sought to make its efforts in behalf of community and country
effective.

Considerable effort has been directed toward making the lives of Oak
Forest hospital patients comfortable and many items provided by the auxiliary
have helped make hospitalization more tolerable.

The construction of the Veterans hospital in Hines, Illinois made it pos-
sible for the auxiliary to widen its scope of activity. Its efforts have been
combined with those of auxiliary members of other posts throughout Illinois
to provide almost every conceivable type of comfort for the hospitalized
veterans.

In its promotion of Americanism, the auxiliary carries its program to
the schools and youth groups with continuing effectiveness. Each of the local
schools, as well as Girl Scout troops and other organizations for girls, have
been the recipients of American flags. The unit has sponsored oratorical and
essay contests, has given financial assistance to athletic groups and even to
the Boy Scouts during annual collections for used toys to be repaired and
distributed among the community's needy children at Christmas.

The auxiliary annually conducts a Poppy Sale, its only fund raising project
of the year. It is the profits from this sale which make possible its extensive
philanthropic program.

The unit has enjoyed the benefits of dedicated leadership provided by the
following presidents who have served throughout the years:

Hazel Hughes 1921-1922 Phoebe Haines 1927

Grace Collins 1923 Lola Wheeler 1928

Irene Monahan 1924 Carrie Gallett 1929

Ruby Osborne 1925 Lucy Spencer 1930

Phoebe Walton 1926 Laura Jones 1931

157

Vivian Ingle 1932

Anna Krafcik 1933

Nell Shanefelt 1934

Frieda Eldridge 1935

Mary Cash 1936

Ruth Redding 1937

Neva Boyer 1938

Eva Hord 1939

Ruth Redding 1940

Neva Boyer 1941

Eva Hord 1942

Etta Caproni 1943

Julia Gelin 1944

Hazel Rothenberger 1945

Hazel Jones 1946

Ethel Savoie 1947

Yvonne Burton 1948

Leona Powers 1949

Doris Jones 1950

Elsie Van Der Aa 1951

Cleo Chesney 1952

Helen Luehrs 1953

Carol Raimann 1954

Selma O'Connor 1955

Jeanette Skilbeck 1956

Estelle Anglin 1957

Ruth Wakefield 1958

Norma Katity 1959

Florence Mitchell 1960

Donna Wentz 1961

Betty Grummit 1962

Sharon Kolb 1963

WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS

On July 28, 1892 the Harvey Woman's Relief Corps, No. 210, a ladies'
auxiliary to the Grand Army Post 274 of Harvey, was formed with 28 mem-
bers on the charter list.

The first president was Mrs. Emma DeVoe, her sister officers being: Mrs.
Leon C. Keifer, senior vice president; Mrs. Belle Nicols, junior vice president;
Mrs. Kittie M. Chase, secretary; Mrs. Ann Morse, treasurer; Mrs. Mary E.
Davison, chaplain; Mrs. Betsey K. Brooks, guard; Mrs. Mary Bayles, conductor;
Mrs. Mary Dinmitt, assistant conductor; Mrs. Etta Craver, assistant guard.

Purpose of the corps is to furnish relief to members and other needy
people, present flags to schools, churches and other organizations, and in any
other way possible to foster patriotism in the community.

Throughout their many years in Harvey, and the post is the oldest active
women's organization in the city, they have made an annual custom of deco-
rating the graves of deceased GAR veterans and corps members on Memorial
Day. In more modern times the corps has also participated with American
Legion post in decorating graves of the dead of both World Wars.

In 1923 and 1924 Mrs. Mae Van Laningham as president spearheaded
a fund drive which raised $583 which was presented to Ingalls Memorial
hospital for funrishing a room.

In 1931 the corps erected a monument in Oak Lawn Cemetery on the plot
where the Memorial Day services have been held.

Since its inception, the Woman's Relief Corps has been served by the
following presidents:

Mrs. Emma De Voe 1892-3

Mrs. May Clark 1894

Mrs. Betsey Brooks 1895

Mrs. Eunice De Voe 1896-8

Mrs. Eliz. Millison 1899

Mrs. Phoebe Hyde 1900

Mrs. Adeline Gilson 1901-2

Mrs. Hattie Stone 1903

Mrs. Sarah Meetch 1904

Mrs. Laura Martin 1905-7

Mrs. Frances Bishop 1908

Mrs. Clarkson 1909

Mrs. Mary Myers 1910-11

Mrs. M. Crittendon 1912-13

Mrs. Lydia Stinson 1914

Mrs. M. Van Laningham. ...1915-16

Mrs. Myrtle Strode 1917

Mrs. Frank Lake 1918

158

Mrs. O'Rourke 1919 Mrs.

Mrs. Reeser 1920 Mrs.

Mrs. Jennie Jillick 1921 Mrs.

Mrs. Falette 1922 Mrs.

Mrs. M. Van Laningham ...1923-24 Mrs.

Mrs. Ada Davis 1925 Mrs.

Mrs. Wessell and Mrs.

Blanche Abbott 1926 Mrs.

Mrs. May Jacobs 1927 Mrs.

Mrs. H. Schiller 1928 Mrs.

Mrs. Lillian Smith 1929 Mrs.

Mrs. Eva Fowler 1930 Mrs.

Mrs. L. Brauer 1931 Mrs.

Mrs. L. Barnhisel 1932 Mrs.

Mrs. E. Bergstrand 1933-34 Mrs.

Mrs. Hilda Hertzog 1935-36 Mrs.

Mrs. Emily Lyon 1937 Mrs.

Mrs. M. Thoresen 1938 Mrs.

Mrs. Mayme Meetch 1939 Mrs.

Mrs. E. Latowski 1940 Mrs.

Ona Gibbert 1941

Marge Moorhouse 1942

Rossie Wilson 1943

Minnie DeGroot 1944

Lillian Reid 1945-46

Mabel Coale 1947

Crist Twedt 1948

Maude Fones 1949

Minnie DeGroot 1950

Ruby Wagner 1951

Irene Scran 1952

Lorene Johnson 1953

Crist Twedt 1954

Hilda Harrison 1955

Cleo Chesney 1956

Selma O'Connor 1957

Hazel Jones 1958

Clara Benjamin 1959

Helen Luehrs 1960-61

Cleo Chesney 1962

LOYAL ORDER OF THE MOOSE

Harvey Lodge No. 1203, Loyal Order of the Moose, was officially in-
stituted on December 12, 1912, the first initiation class numbering 215.

Many outstanding civic leaders of the time were included in that class
and names of the charter officer list consists of men who were closely associated
with the city's early history.

Included were: William E. Kerr, George Mann, William Kelly, Jack Thiel,
George Koenig, Matt Stobbs, Charles E. Ruble, W. C. Dempsey, Charles A.
Abaio, Henry I. Heckler. John J. Gard George E. Sidle, C. M. Bradley and
J. W. Blair.

As is true in the cases of many such groups, there were times when the
lodge faced extinction, but survival was assured through continued qualified
leadership and from its humble beginning the Moose Lodge grew to a member-
ship of over 2,000 in the year 1962.

One of the more trying periods occurred during the depression of the
early 1930's when the lodge suffered a severe drop in membership. However,
the records indicate that "the hard work and perseverance of a few members,
including Joseph Spindler (just this year named a Pilgrim, the lodge's highest
honor), Al Wexelberg, Ira Hutchinson, Marshall Sailors, Charles Seagraves,
George Hutchinson. Gus Rutkowski. Ed Gorsuch, and many others helped the
lodge weather the storm.

The lodge suffered a severe blow in January, 1931, when its headquarters
were destroyed by fire, but a special committee succeeded in raising the
funds necessary to keep it alive. Between then and 1957, however, the mem-
bership fell to an alarming low of 150.

That same year space was rented on the second floor of the Piazza building
on Broadway which, at the time, housed the city's fire department. This move
presaged a new era of success for the lodge and the membership climbed
impressively.

159

However, fire struck again in January, 1958 and the entire building was
destroyed, as well as all of the lodge records and equipment. Temporary head-
quraters were established in the old Veterans of Foreign Wars hall on Broad-
way near 155th Street.

These are the circumstances which led to the realization of a dream of
the members for a lodge home of their own. Land on Dixie Highway near
154th Street was secured, construction soon inaugurated. The building which
resulted is one of the finest in the community and it was a huge crowd of
members and dignitaries from throughout Illinois which attended the dedica-
tion rites on November 30, 1958. From that point the lodge has enjoyed un-
qualified success and the membership has climbed to a new peak.

The Harvey lodge is well represented in the three degrees conferred by
the national organization, there being more than 200 members of the "Legion"
which marks the second degree, more than 50 in the "Fellows," the third
degree, and three members (Anton Sterker, Secretary Lawrence Raimann and
Joseph Spindler), who hold the most coveted degree, that of Pilgrim.

Governors who have served Harvey Lodge 1203 since its inception are:

W. E. Kerr
George Mann
Lloyd Hawley
R. A. Creps
Melvin Rasmus
Harry Raiman
Ernest H. Berry, Jr.
Gust P. Miller
Edward Scully
Noah W. Brandenburg
Lawrence Raiman
Joseph Spindler
William Sons
Willis Sinclair
F. L. Brown
Frank Polizzi

Willis Kelly
E. G. Gorsuch
Charles Basing
Fred C. Fowler
Joseph Spindler
John D. Rossman
Thomas Chaffee
Emil Groskopf
Ira D. Hutchinson
A. M. Wex-elberg
Russell Dunham
L. Overman
Doyle Sweet
John W. Hile
Romeo Fraser

Lawrence Raiman — Council Action — August, 1950

Bernard Miller — Council Action — December, 1950

Donald J. Degenhart — Council Action — December, 1959

Elmer Nelson — Council Action — December, 1961

WOMEN OF THE MOOSE
HARVEY LODGE 811

Twelve years after the founding of the Harvey Moose lodge in 1912, a
chapter of the lodge's feminine organization, the Women of the Moose, was
founded in Harvey, the official institution occurring on July 1, 1924 with the
following charter officers: Emma Livers, Lillian Tesar, Agnes Rossman,
Amelia Hammel, Laura Seagraves, Lena Groskopf, Eva Biggerstaff, Alice
Bastar, Dorothy Chaffee and Clara Spindler.

Like its masculine counterpart, the Women of the Moose chapter here
has enjoyed consistent and impressive growth. From a small start of 27 charter
members the membership has grown to more than 1,000.

160

In order to attain this mark the WOTM was required to survive the depres-
sion when the membership dipped to a meager 14 in 1937, but as was true
with the parent lodge, dedicated officers and members pulled it through the
crisis, kept the charter intact, and saw the lodge gradually rebuild and eventu-
ally attain the stature it enjoys today.

There are also three degrees in the Women of the Moose. They are the
Academy of Friendship, College of Regents, and Puritan Honor Degree.
Harvey chapter has more than 150 members of the Academy of Friendship,
and 25 members of the College of Regents.

The late Margaret Hutchinson owns the distinction of being the first Harvey
member upon whom both honors were conferred, that in 1940. One member,
Freeda Cannon, has the honor of having served as a Deputy Grand Regent of
the State of Illinois.

As plans progressed for the new Moose home the Women of the Moose
played prominent roles, working side by side with leaders of the men's organi-
zation. Credited with having made major contributions were: Junior Graduate
Regent Dorothy Muehring, Senior Regent Patsy Dascenzi, Junior Regent
Fannie Sutherland, Chaplain Esther Graff, Recorders Ethel Schmidt and
Eleanor Meekins, Treasurer Bernice Graff, Sentinel Mabel Lanham, Arus
Edith Nash, Guide Margaret Wells, Assistant Guide Margie Wishba and
Pianist Lily Edwards.

Women of the Moose are dedicated workers for Mooseheart, the lodge's
Child City; Moosehaven, home for aged and dependent members, and for the
iCity of Harvey where they are to be found heading many charity drives or
other campaigns for the community's welfare.

Regents who have guided the destiny of the Women of the Moose of
Harvey are as follows:

Lillian Tesar 1924

Annie Shulyer Proten 1924

Vlartha Bell * 1925

\gnes Rossman 1926

Mettie Barbell 1928-1929-1932

Lena Groskopf 1930-1931

Emma Livers 1933-1934

Vlargaret Hutchinson 1937

Ellen Timms 1938-1939

Tharlie Harvey 1940-1941

^reeda Cannon 1942

vlarie Barker 1943

letty Paulsen 1944

\lberdeen Hile 1945

Doris Raiman 1946

ileanor Meekins 1947

Mary Hopman Kuna 1935-1936

Virginia Fraser 1948

Mary Hamilton 1949

Louise Glens 1950

Ethel Schmidt 1951

Nellie Yakaitis 1952

Eileen Neander 1953

Kerry Hawley 1954

Clara Kiersey 1955

Dorothy Muehring 1956

Patsy Dascenzi 1957

Lena McLaughlin 1958

Wilma Jones 1959

Alma Poulter 1960

Doris Corbett 1961

Ruth Berry 1962

MILITARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART

Harry E. Smith Chapter No. 211, Military Order of the Purple Heart,
vas founded here in 1945 and was chartered by the National organization in
August of that year.

The chapter was named in honor of Harry E. Smith, the son of Mr. and

161

Mrs. Herbert Smith of Harvey, who lost his life when Pearl Harbor was at-
tacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941.

Membership in the organization, which was founded by George Washing-
ton, first president of the United States, is, of course limited, inasmuch as it is
restricted to those who were wounded or otherwise incapacitated while in the
service of their country.

Twenty servicemen comprised the charter membership role and Harry
Payan, a resident of Markham, served as the first commander.

Since then the following have served in that capacity:

Ireu Gedelman 1946 Merle Roy 1952-53-54

Howard Murphy 1947 James Siddens 1955

Paul C. Jones 1948 Ireu Gedelman 1956

George Cash 1949 Clarence Mulder 1957-58

John Blackberg 1950 James Siddens 1959-60-61

James Siddens 1951

POLISH LEGION OF AMERICAN VETERANS

General John J. Pershing Post No. 39, Polish Legion of American Veterans*
was founded in 1936, four years after the formation of the national organiza-
tion. Its membership consists of war veterans who are American citizens of
Polish descent.

First commander of the local post was Leo Sarnowski, who was followed
by John Krafcik and then Michael Czyl.

Activities of the group declined until 1944 when, following World War II,
the younger veterans of that conflict re-activated the post, transformed it into
an active organization dedicated to the welfare of those of Polish extraction
who served in a common cause.

The extent of their mutual interest is testified to in the form of the im-
posing brick building which is now the post headquarters. Dedicated in 1952,
it came as the result of the personal efforts of the membership. It is a favorite
location for many social activities, both for the post and numerous other
organizations. It is located at 159th Street and Carse Avenue.

Since World War II the following have served as its commanders:
John Ortyl Henry Pasek

Bruno Zielinski John Olejniczak

Carl Szwet Felix A. Mysliwiec

Stanley Szwet Carl Szwet

VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS

South Suburban Post 1759, Veterans of Foreign Wars, was founded on
January 26, 1935 at a meeting in the Whittier school. Tallie C. Brown is
credited with being the inspiration behind its organization and he served as
its second commander in 1937 after the term of A. J. Caillavet, the charter
commander.

Membership is limited to "any officer, or any honorably discharged officer
or enlisted man who has served or may serve in the Army, Navy or Marine
Corps in any foreign war, insurrection or expedition."

162

Objectives of the VFW are fraternal, patriotic, historical and educational.
It seeks to preserve comradeship between its members; to assist worthy com-
rades; to perpetuate the memory of the dead and to assist their widows and
children; to maintain true allegiance to the United States government and to
foster true patriotism, and to preserve and defend the United States from all
enemies."

The local post is a regular contributor to the VFW National Home for
widows and orphans of veterans and espouses the cause of Americanism in
the grade schools by presenting each with American flags.

For many years the post headquarters were located in the Altier building
on Broadway near 155th Street, but later members built their own home at
Wood and 151st Street. This building was sold later, however, to the city
and now houses the Harvey Street department equipment.

Commanders who followed A. J. Caillavet and Tallie Brown are: C. S.
Peck, Edmund Boyens, Charles Wernicke, Eugene Daley, C. Boyer, William
Donahue, Mitchell Koteff, James Siddens, Benjamin Karwacki, Ole Olson,
Merle Roy, V. Johnson. C. Turngren, E. Purnell and N. Wurmnest.

VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
LADIES' AUXILIARY

Only four months after the organization of South Suburban Post 1759,
Veterans of Foreign Wars, its ladies' auxiliary unit was instituted on April 11,
1935 at a meeting in the Whittier school.

Its first president was Mrs. Pearl Dillon who was succeeded by the fol-
lowing: Mrs. Bernice Englebrecht, 1935; Mrs. Alice Brown, 1937; Mrs. Phoebe
Walton, 1938; Mrs. Elizabeth Clark, 1938-1939; Mrs. Mary Cash, 1940.

The auxiliary objectives are closely aligned with those of the men's organi-
zation and their energies are expended in similar directions.

Membership is limited to the mothers, wives, widows, sisters, daughters
and foster daughters of deceased or honorably discharged officers or enlisted
Tien of the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps who have served
he nation on foreign soil.

The auxiliary's major project is an essay contest sponsored each year in
he local schools, with students writing on the subject of "Americanism." It
"egularly distributes food baskets to the needy on Thanksgiving and Christmas,
upervises the annual Buddy Poppy sale, participates in memorial services,
ind assists needy veterans and their dependents.

DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Rebecca Wells Heald Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, was
>rganized on June 9, 1931 when eleven Harvey women who filled strict
nembership requirements met at the home of Mrs. J. F. Zimmerman.

Fifteen women were enrolled as charter members. Inaddition to the offi-
cers they were: Mrs. E. T. Osgood, Mrs. C. R. Beeman, Mrs. C. A. Randall,
vfrs. E. S. Elson, Mrs. Russell Martin, Dixie Mason Smith, Mrs. R. M.
Veidner. Later the same year Mrs. William James, Mrs. J. L. Lease and Mrs.

L. Jerome were enrolled.

163

Charter officers were: Mrs. Zimmerman, organizing regent; Mrs. J. M.
Cooke, vice regent; Mrs. Wilbur Day, secretary; Mrs. A. Manville, treasurer;
Mrs. J. B. Stephens, registrar; Miss Georgia Mynard, historian; Mrs. R. A.
Mason, chaplain; Mrs. L. L. Schilb, librarian.

The local chapter was officially recognized by the National Board of
Directors on June 13, 1931.

Rebecca Wells Heald, for whom the chapter was named, was a daughter:
of Samuel Wells and the wife of Captain Nathan Heald, who was commandant |
of Fort Dearborn when the massacre occurred there on August 15, 1812. Mrs.
Heald displayed great courage in defending women and children of the fort
from the attacks by the Indians.

Many members of the local chapter have served as division, state andj
national officers and on committees for the parent groups. These include:
Mrs. Zimmerman, state chaplain, state regent, national vice president general,
national chaplain; Mrs. Russell Martin and Mrs. A. L. Leach, house committee;
for national convention in Chicago; Mrs. J. M. Cooke, state chairman of the!
Americanism committee; Mrs. W. P. Fenwick, chairman of the Lineage Re-
search committee of the Fourth division; Mrs. H. M. Mclntyre, House com-
mittee for the State convention.

Additional honor came to Mrs. Zimmerman when the boys' dormitory for
orphan children at a school founded by the Illinois D.A.R. in the mountains
of South Carolina was named in her honor.

For many years a senior girl student in Illinois high schools is elected
as the "Good Citizenship Girl of the Year." The Harvey chapter has always
participated in the search for such a girl and presently sponsors such searches
in six area high schools — Thornton Township, Thornridge, Thornton Frac-
tional, South and North, Bremen Township and Blue Island Community .

The following have served as regents of Rebecca Wells Heald chapter since
its inception:

Mrs. J. F. Zimmerman 1931-33 Mrs. S. D. Jackson 1947-48

Mrs. Wilbur Day 1933-35 Mrs. A. F. Heino 1949-52

Mrs. R. A. Mason 1935-37 Mrs. C. C. Heron 1952-53!

Miss Georgia Mynard 1937-39 Mrs. J. M. Cooke 1953-551

Mrs. E. J. Doll 1939-41 Mrs. A. B. Huttig 1955-56

Mrs. L. L. Schilb 1941-43 Mrs. R. B. Frew 1956-59

Mrs. Porter W. Hay 1943-45 Mrs. J. P. Cooper, Sr 1959-61

Mrs. Wilbur Day 1945-46 Mrs. H. M. Mclntyre 1961-6:

Mrs. J. B. Stephens 1946-47

HARVEY ROTARY CLUB

Nineteen members comprised the charter list when the Harvey Rotary
club was founded in April 28, 1925.

On June 9th, the club received its charter in ceremonies held in Chicago
Heights. The club, whose motto is "He profits most who serves best," has
met each Tuesday at noon since its inception. These meetings have moved from
one place to another through the years and have been held at the Odd Fellows
hall, the Elks club, the Federated Church parish house, Homewood Inn, the
Green Shingle and, in recent years at the Evangelical Church of Peace.

As an international project, the Rotary Clubs of the world sponsor and
support more than 130 graduate students who are provided one year's study

164

at a university of their choice in a foreign country. The cost to Rotary is
approximately $3,500 per student, and the Harvey Club contributes to this
project each year.

A student from the Harvey area was the son of Rev. Geffert, pastor of the
Trinity Lutheran Church, and his year of graduate study was done in Germany.
The Harvey Club also contributes funds for aid to students in Thornton
Junior College and High School, and recently promoted the fund drive which
enabled two of the students to attend the World Trade Fair in Europe as
representative high school students from the United States. Copies of The
Rotarian, the international publication of Rotary, are provided the high school
library in both the English and Spanish languages. The frequency with which
The Rotarian is quoted in other publications bears testimony to its standard
of excellence in literary value.

The Harvey Rotary Club also sponsors "Youth in Government" in May
of each year. With the aid of grade school supervisors, outstanding students
in each school are selected from the eighth grade to fill the offices in City
of Harvey government. They spend the day inspecting the various departments
and conduct a council meeting in the evening, making their reports which
indicate they have learned something of how the local government functions.
Their reports are usually enlightening also to city officials as well as the public
present at the meetings.

The principal purpose of Rotary is to improve ethical standards and con-
duct of business and professional men in the community. Members constitute
a cross-section of merchants, contractors, educators, the professions and in-
dustrial leaders. Each member bears a classification based upon his occupation
and he is expected to encourage and promote the tenets of Rotary in his field.
Since its beginning the club has had the benefit of excellent leadership and
its presidents have been widely known residents. These are the men who have
held the office:

John A. Thiel Harold B. Isaac

Rev. William F. Vance Thor Jensen

Norman T. Hobson Charles Falkenberg

William J. Ebert Dr. Charles Sandberg

Howard B. Phillips Clinton Bradshaw

Dr. Charles B. Alexander Earl L. Delano

Dean C. Wilkins William H. Botma

Sidney Lee Jack Raphael

Leslie McPhee Arthur E. Christian

Harry A. Malone Joseph B. Stephens

Harold Boltz Carl V. Johnson

Paul Leleu Dr. Norbert Giese

Clyde Thomas Edward Younger, Jr.

Walter Baker Lee M. Morris

Vernon T. Johnson George Biederman

George F. Thies Donald Cherry

Robert D. Lincoln

HARVEY KIWANIS CLUB

The Harvey Kiwanis Club was officially organized on July 13, 1927 when
Daniel Wentworth, governor of the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District, presented
its charter.

165

Following the ideals of Kiwanis International, the Harvey club has been
predominant in the field of boys' and girls' work and community service.
Projects such as Kiwanis Kids' Day, Pancake Day and the staging in recent
years of a Kiwanis stage show have provided funds for many projects. These
include sponsorship of teams in both the Little and Babe Ruth Baseball
leagues, participation in the Spastic Child Foundation, sponsorship of Brownie
troops, visual and dental aid to underprivileged children, city tree replacement
program, the J. W. Foraker Teacher Training scholarship program, school
patrol boy outings, pet parades in cooperation with the Harvey Recreation
council, providing equipment for neighborhood parks. The club has also par-
ticipated in many projects co-sponsored by Harvey Memorial YMCA.

Membership of Kiwanis consists of professional and business people either
working in Harvey or maintaining local residence.

Its meetings are held on Tuesday evenings in the Harvey Room at Memo-
rial YMCA.

Those who have served the club as presidents since its founding are: E. L.
Tromley, J. M. Hughes, C. R. Beeman, Frank C. Norton, J. D. Logsdon,
S. R. Marks, Gordon Adler, Don C. Allen, Milton W. Waterman, J. Walter
Foraker, George Patterson, H. Charles Jones, Gilbert R. Valbert, Charles E.
Boese, Porter W. Hay, John Hoffman, Robert C. Bruce, S. Robert Seagle,
Harold S. Renne, R. Stanley Gordon, Robert Pruitt, John W. Murghik, Her-
bert C. Greiner, Nelson DeFord, John E. Tilton, Robert G. Richardson, Wil-
liam Gostlin, John A. Blair, Al Jeske, Bernard Callender, Arnold F. Koester,
William Summers, and Richard Hague.

HARVEY ELKS LODGE

In the spring of 1911 the idea of organizing an Elks lodge in Harvey was
presented by Paul A. Dratz. He combined with four residents of the city who
held Elks memberships in other cities, to petition for a charter. This was
eventually granted and on June 15, 1911, members of the Kankakee lodge
officiated at the institution of Harvey Lodge Number 1242.

Three Elks — Mr. Dratz, William L. Voss, Sr. and Frank Trott were the
original members and they, along with 50 candidates, became members on the
night of the institution.

First meeting in the Harvey Land Association building, the members later
arranged to rent the Union club suite on the second floor at the rear of the
Bank of Harvey building. Later the entire second floor was taken over and
partitioned to suit the club's needs.

Rapid growth of the membership created a need for new quarters in an
extremely short time and the property upon which the present clubhouse
stands at 155th Street and Center Avenue was purchased for $3,300.

On April 26, 1916 the club adopted a resolution to proceed with the erec-
tion of a building and the issuing of $60,000 in bonds for the purpose. Mem-
bers of the building committee were William L. Voss, Sr., Thomas F. Kinney,
Elmer Flewelling, Edward M. Adams, David Weidemann, Sr., William Walsh,
Floyd J. Page, Jacob Decklar and Theodore Peterson.

Ground was broken for the building on June 18, 1917 with 60 members
present. More than one-third of these joined the armed forces when United
States entered World War I.

The new building was dedicated on June 15, 1918, the membership totaling

166

284 at the time. The mortgage on the property was paid off many years ago,
despite the interruption of depressions and recessions.

Since, of course, the membership has grown substantially, as have the
Elks' contributions to the welfare of the community. It is a regular donor to
every worthy cause, sponsors athletic teams and Boy Scout troops. For many
years, public-spirited members gave up their Christmas Eves to travel to Hines
hospital to entertain hospitalized war veterans.

At Christmas time, too, many needy families have known the generosity
of the lodge through the annual distribution of food baskets.

The lodge has had the benefit of excellent leadership throughout the years
and the following have served in the lodge's highest office, that of Exalted
Ruler:

Paul Dratz 1911-1912

Frank Trott 1913-1914

Paul Dratz 1914-1915

Joseph Lynch 1915-1916

W. E. Tompkins 1917-1918

Walter Haines 1918-1919

Ravmond P. Scully 1919-1920

John A. Thiel 1920-1921

Forrest L. Jerome 1921-1922

Foss P. Miller 1922-1923

Roe E. Mallstrom 1923-1924

George P. Fisher 1924-1925

Joseph M. Cooke 1925-1926

Robert L. Cross 1926-1927

Norman T. Hobson 1927-1928

Joseph Chapman 1928-1929

Jack Owen 1930-1931

Herman Birkholz 1931-1932

William L. Voss, Jr 1932-1933

Fred T. Ehlert 1933-1934

D. F. MacDonald 1934-1935

William Salkeld 1936-1937

Joseph Flaherty 1937-1938

Cedric E. Casler 1938-1939

William Ebert, Jr 1939-1940

F. Joseph Frasor 1940-1941

C. Howard Neale 1941-1942

W. D. O'Hara 1942-1943

Charles A. Geupel 1943-1944

Floyd J. Page 1944-1945

J. J. McGlone 1945-1946

Walter Wurtman 1946-1947

John H. Vogler 1947-1948

William Weaver, Sr 1948-1949

Roy W. Moyer 1949-1950

Francis L. Stevens 1950-1951

Harry W. Zahler 1951-1952

Jerry Hetfield 1952-1953

William Hardlannert 1953-1954

W. E. Redding 1954-1955

John E. Bastar 1955-1956

William C. Fowler 1956-1957

Robert H. King 1957-1958

H. B. Horton 1958-1959

William F. Donahue 1959-1960

Warren M. Bielby 1960-1961

W. D. O'Hara 1961-1962

Virgil Benenati 1962-1963

THE HARVEY MASONIC LODGE

On September 13, 1892, Harvey Lodge was organized by order of the
Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of
the State of Illinois under the leadership of Most Wonderful Grand Master
Monroe C. Crawford.

The original petition bore the names of the following Master Masons:
Irwin A. Miller, James Lawson, S. L. Skinner, E. B. Albright, William Green,
J. L. Cass, Charles H. Howard, M. L. Clark, D. W. Turney, E. B. Clark,
George S. Woodward, Joseph M. Ellis, Thomas A. Noble, Jonathon Mathews,
James Bates, E. G. Osgood and George R. Kenyon.

The Lodge at this time was known as Magic City Lodge, operating under
dispensation, and its regular meeting place was in French Hall at the corner

167

of Broadway and 154th Street. The stated meetings were held on the first
and third Mondays of each month. The first stated meeting was held on Sep-
tember 19, 1892, with the following officers: James Lawson, Worshipful
Master; James Bates, Senior Warden; George W. Kenyon, Junior Warden;
E. B. Albright, Secretary; M. L. Clark, Treasurer; E. B. Clark, Senior Deacon;
D. W. Turney, Junior Deacon; S. L. Skiner, Tyler.

About six months later the lodge was moved to the Moose building. By
the end of 1893 twenty seven candidates were added to the above members.
The following named were the original petitioners for the degrees conferred in
Magic City Lodse; H. A. Starkey, P. H. Lamb, T. D. Hobson, E. L. Stratford,
C. T. McKee, W. J. Baker and J. W. Lawson.

By the end of the year of 1900 there were 82 members and the lodge
moved to the Oddfellows Hall on 1 54th Street across from the Bank of Harvey
Building. During the year 1903 thirty candidates were admitted and the
membership had grown to ninety four. On October 3, 1907, the name of
Magic City was changed to Harvey Lodge No. 832, A.F.&A.M.

On December 23, 1912, several of Harvey Lodge met to organize the
Harvey Masonic Association, the purpose of which would be to encourage
social and fraternal relations and to acquire a building for holding the meet-
ings of the lodge. The association was incorporated under the laws of the State
of Illinois on December 31, 1912. The present Masonic Temple at the corner
of 154th Street and Turlington Avenue was built in 1913 with the laying of
the cornerstone by the Grand Lodge officers on September 27, 1913. At that
time the lodge moved into this Temple and has since held all subsequent
meetings there.

The largest number of candidates in any one year were taken in during
1919, numbering 55, under Worshipful Master Joseph L. Abbott. The member-
ship at this time had grown to 456. By the end of 1931 this had been in-
creased to 674.

The following men have served as Masters of Harvey Lodge since its
founding: James Lawson, 1892-93-94; Walter Scott, 1895; Corydon E. Phelps,
1896-97; George S. Woodward, 1898-99; Elzey T. Osgood, 1900-01; Edwin G.
Ruthrauff, 1902-03; Loyd A. Dolton, 1904; John J. Gard, 1905; W. O. Hunter,
1906; James W. Ewing, 1907; James McLaughlin, 1908; Issac R. Small, 1909;
John S. VanDeursen, 1910; George H. Gibson, 1911; Roderic B. Harwood,
1912; Joseph White, Sr., 1913; Harlon P. Bennett, 1914; Oliver H. Clark, 1915;
Karl A. Finley, 1916; W. R. Brandt, 1917; Edward Anderson, 1918; Joseph L.
Abbot, 1919; Herbert J. Frambein, 1920; Charles H. Johnson, 1921; George
G. Ford, 1922; Bert B. Anderson, 1923; Emil C. Kasten, 1924; W. A. Neill,
1925; Harold Nicolai, 1926; W. H. Hurson, 1927; Arthur C. Sorenson, 1928;
James L. Hoyt, 1929; Charles J. Fleck, 1930; Walter J. Fradgley, 1931; Albert
L. Woody, 1932; John P. Smart, 1923; Roy W. Tierney, 1934; Peter Fleming,
1935; Andrew L. Florig, 1936; Mack D. Mason, 1937; Harold B. Isaac, 1938;
Robert Hayes, 1939; William A. Defries, 1940; Christian J. Miller, 1941; Carl
H. Johnson, 1942; Henry Mulder, 1943; Jack H. Millsap, 1944; Percy Selkirk
1945; Theodore H. Meyer, 1946; Arthur D. Porter, 1947; John F
Denson, 1948; Arthur G. Vanderlee, 1949; Henry E. Conrad, 1950
Donald R. Bullard, 1951; Glen N. Boswell, 1952; Charles Goheen, 1953
Paul L. Schmehl, 1954; Russell Gill, 1955; Samuel D. Couwenhoven, 1956
Harry A. Wheeldon, 1957; Edward W. Onyon, 1958; James Freeburn, 1959
Earl Ring, 1960; Emory O'Bryan, 1961.

168

INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS

Harvey Subordinate Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organ-
ized in November, 1891 with 20 members comprising the charter role.

Included were many of the city's most prominent pioneer residents includ-
ing William H. Robinson, Thomas D. Hobson, Thomas Chaffee, George H.
Lane, F. L. Lee, J. R. Chaffee, John L. Ott, W. L. Schaeffer, G. L. Wilcox,
George Sutton, G. A. Huling, J. H. McLean, J. W. Kerr, W. S. Klock, Charles
Cook, H. L. Eggleston, J. A. Kirkpatrick, Nathan Vasen, F. L. Miller and R.
G. Hooman.

The present lodge building at 155th Street and Lexington Avenue, a Harvey
landmark and built originally as a Union church, was purchased in October
1914.

Among the highlights in the long history of the lodge was the initiation of 63
candidates in an impressive ceremony in the old Coliseum on Center Avenue,
currently the site of a bowling alley. An equally large class became part of a
class of 100 candidates who were initiated in a statewide ceremony in Spring-
field in October, 1919.

Many members have become prominently known in Illinois IOOF circles
through the years. William H. Pease, Harvey postmaster, was named Grand
Master of Illinois in 1914: H. Frederick Beck served as Grand Patriarch in
1933, as did Edward G. Houser in 1958.

Records of the Noble Grands who served the lodge from its founding until
1913 are not available, but those who have served since are:

Orrin Shepard and

George Meyers 1913

William Figg 1914

W. Guy Roy 1915

Clayton L. Zehner 1916

Jacob F. Zimmerman 1919

V. G. Bloodgood and

Chas. Arner 1921

W. J. Stutters, C. E. McBratney 1922
J. W. Gardner, Victor Taylor ....1923

E. G. Kerr, H. F. Beck 1924

F. G. Copenhauer, J. H. Elliott 1925
Fred Reason, Charles Madsen .1926
Louis Nantz, George L. Carter 1927
John E. Sober, Leroy Trumble .1928

Charles Oft, Paul Moffett 1929

Fred Roberts, Harry Bassett ...1930
Cornelius O'Conner,

C. C. Walther 1931

Oscar Johnson, C. C. Walther .1932
Morris Cohen,

Charles Barnhisel 1933

Oliver Cox, Pete Fontechia 1934

Nels Swanson, R. O. Meyer ....1935

T. J. Boulden, John Falete 1936

John Cass, James Burns 1937

Charles M. Landis 1938

Henry P. Fessler 1939

Monk Nicholson 1940

Roy W. Baringer 1941

Earl E. Lester 1942

Victor Culver 1943

James L. Caress 1944

Fred Daniels 1945

Melvin Thompson 1946

Edward Houser 1947

George Fenwick 1948

Verle Hudson 1949

Lawrence Harris 1950

Ralph Shepard 1951

Paul J. Schmeidl 1952

Charles Muller, Jr 1953

John Bowerman 1954

Gustav Hallberg 1955

Paul Schmeidl 1956

Elbert Smock 1957

Gustav Hallberg 1958

John A. Macari 1959

John A. Macari 1960

Donald Tremble 1961

William Scott 1962

Two area lodges have combined with the Harvey lodge during the years —
Dolton in 1947 and Homewood in 1961.

169

Harvey Encampment 203, a branch of the lodge, was founded here in 1909
with 23 charter members. This branch consists of IOOF members who have
won the subordinate degrees, and membership is drawn from lodges elsewhere
in the area.

During 1950 when a Harvey member, Edward G. Houser, served as Chief
Patriarch of Illinois, the encampment established a plan to organize a Matri-
archal branch. In September of that year a charter was issued, charter mem-
bers numbering 20.

They were: Lillian Houser, Susan Caress, Jennie Birks, Sareta Rilley, Lena
Morris, Margaret Riegel, Mabel DeCamp, Olympe Macari, Ethel Pike, Maude
Stobbs, Emma Fenwick, Mildred Nehrke, June Lester, Beulah Thompson, Neva
Baringer, Eleanor Falete, Hilda Willing, Bonnie Schmeidl, Sara Dickinson and
Amy Morgan.

The state auxiliary was not made an official branch until July, 1951 and
state officers were not elected until October, 1952. Lillian Houser of Harvey
served as Grand Matriarch from 1950 to 1952, and then again in 1958.

REBEKAH LODGE

William H. Day Rebekah Lodge Number 328, named in honor of the
founder, was established in Harvey on March 14, 1894, the charter being
granted on November 22 of the same year. The charter role included 38 names
including the original officers. Serving with Noble Grand Emma Fuller were:
Lillian D. Chaffee, John R. Chaffee, Julia Heindel, Sarah Smith, Augusta
Wood, H. H. Bergstone, T. A. Chaffee, Jacob Ott, Isabell Ott, Rilla Pease and
A. D. Heindel.

The local lodge has accomplished much over the years in the field of wel-
fare. It is active in the affairs of the lodge's orphan's home in Lincoln, Illinois,
and in the old folks' home in Mattoon, Illinois. Within the last three years
(1958-1961) it has participated in a project to add sixteen rooms to the home's
hospital. Those who have served as presiding officers of the lodge are:

Emma Fuller
Lillie Chaffee
Julia Heindel
Emma Bennett
Bertha Pierce
Mary Klock
Hattie Campbell
Sarah Smith
Fannie Unruh
Alma Ott
Rose Thorp
Irene Beden
Bertha Lenox
Etta Ellis
Eleanor Falete
Coral Elliott
Marvel Thorsen
Helen Jones
Emma Gregg
Nettie Coleman

Florence Hughes
Myrth Haviland
Grace Bloodgood
Hilda Bassett
Mabel Fiebig
Olympe Macari
Susan Caress
June Lester
Laura Barnheisel
Maude Fones
Hazel Plante
Mary Harris
Hattie Lundmark
Minnie Hobson
Ida Applegate
T. Brown
Mary Williams
Elizabeth Pettigrew
Minnie Hughes
Josie Laughton

Florence Rewald
Margaret Wood
Clara Shubbee
Floy Isaac
Lida McBratney
Lida Dickinson
Hazel Nantz
Edna Ellis
Revah Bastar
Alice Mills
Mary Figg
Lotta King
Ethel Bennett
Neva E. Beck
Birdie Flewelling
Lenore Wiseman
Eva Aiken
Doris Hawkins
Margery Gordon
Elizabeth Cooper

170

Edith Smock
Helen Black
Lillian Tracy
Etta Irwin
Dora Lambert
Mary Trumble
Florence Walker
Sarah Smith
Augusta Wood
Sadie Bennett
Effa Templin

Clara Boyce
Fern Hughes
Mabel Elliott
Margaret Arner
Eva Davison
Emma Buehler
Mina Dykstra
Bessie Stamper
Elizabeth Templin
Annette Huling
Maude Stobbs

Mary Whitney
Cellia Christian
Mary O'Connor
Margaret Mitchell
Martha Rouse
Lillian Houser
Pearl Faretti
Emma Fenwick
Audra Frew
Clara Flannigan
Margaret Riegel

HARVEY LIONS CLUB

The Harvey Lions Club was organized and chartered in 1946 and its first
president was Wilbur Morrison.

Throughout the years the Lions Club has engaged in many types of fund
raising activities in order to serve the Community and help the less fortunate.
Each year the Lions have sent at least two children to summer camp, children
who could not otherwise have participated in an activity of this kind. Eye
examinations and glasses have been provided to many needy youngsters; base-
ball teams have been sponsored, an oxygen tent donated to Ingalls Memorial
Hospital, a speedometer purchased for the City to protect children from speedy
law breakers, talking books supplied to blind persons. Leadership in school
safety programs has helped provide crossing guards and safety devices to pro-
tect children on the way to and from school. Many dollars of the funds raised
here have been spent helping the blind obtain equipment and leader dogs. All
worthwhile community activities have been actively and enthusiastically sup-
ported by the Lions Club.

Following the expiration of the term of Wilbur Morrison the following have
served as president of the organization:

Dr. Harry Lees 1947

William Hercules 1948

Elmer Turngren 1949

James R. Cushing 1950

Jack McPherrin 1951

Martin Chadwick 1952

Ralph Rowe 1953

Loren Pollet 1954

Lester Rowe 1955

Ernest Savageau 1956

Herman Kaufman 1957

Dr. Gerard Achilly 1958

Kenneth Schlaudraff 1959

Raymond Hickey 1960

Stanley Slack 1961

William McGushin 1962

171

172

PEOPLE

'A people is but the attempt
of many

To rise to the completer life
of one —

A nd those who live as models
for the mass

Are singly of more value than
they all."

Robert Browning

173

174

BILLY SUNDAY CONVERTED
400 IN HARVEY CAMPAIGN

The fervently religious character of the community, although it has sub-
sided but little throughout the years, was a marked characteristic of the com-
munity's early population.

As the Gaston family crusaded for abstinence of demoralizing habits, so
did the famed evangelist of the 1890's, Billy Sunday, crusade for the souls of
the people. Although he is reported unofficially to have put his baseball talents
on exhibition here on more than one occasion, he is remembered more for his
evangelistic campaign in 1904 — recorded as a huge success.

On the occasion of his visit of more than a month's duration he is reported
by the Tribune of those days to have made at least 400 converts.

His meetings opened on May 22 in the tabernacle at the corner of 154th
Street and Lexington Avenue under the sponsorship of the pastors of the city's
Congregational, Presbyterian, Christian, Methodist and Baptist churches. The
dynamic Sunday, in his finest oratorical form, was a magnet which drew nightly
audiences of between 1000 and 2000 persons.

Led by Prof. F. L. Miller, the town's first educator, a united choir of 200
voices provided the background for the vitriolic messages of Sunday, one of
America's most prominent evangelists.

BILL McCLATCHEY AND BATTLING NELSON

Perhaps it is incongruous and not in the best journalistic taste to follow the
gloriousness of the Gaston and Sunday crusades with a disseration on the
bawdier side of life in Harvey.

Yet, the fact that saloons were established, allowed to operate, and grew in
numbers is also a part of the Harvey story. The career of Billy McClatchey, a
pioneer carpenter who lived in the first house built in the town and who
helped construct many of its early structures, sought other means to make a
livelihood, because of the "Panic of 1893," and opened a whiskey-dispensing
establishment on 159'h Street east of the Illinois Central tracks, later moving
to 155th and Halsted Streets.

The historical significance of McClatchey's saloon arises from the fact that
it was the "birthplace of boxing" in the south suburban area. It also became the
scene of the early exploits of Battling Nelson, who went on to become one of
the most famous pugilists in the annals of American sport.

Hugh MacMillan, editor of the Harvey Tribune until 1942. recalled for the
50th anniversary edition of that publication the Battling Nelson-Billy Mc-
Clatchey era.

'in those days," MacMillan reported, "there were no big purses, seats at
the fights did not go at $10 apiece. There were mostly barroom brawls, a case
of guys against the purse, a few bucks for a hammering."

It was at McClatchey's 155th and Halsted St. spot that Battling Nelson,
the barefoot kid from Hegewisch, got his chance.

On a spring day in 1900 the lad who was to become the world's greatest
lightweight fighter approached Bill, asked to "get on the card." He had walked
to Harvey from his home town, barefoot. He was one of many kids in the
Nelson family which lived in a two-room shack. They were "hard up."

McClatchey found the chance several weeks later to get "Bat" on the card

175

and it was to be the beginning of a fabulous career. He beat his opponent in
two rounds.

His first really important triumph came in his second start for McClatchey,
against one Billy Rosser from Roseland, who had compiled an impressive list
of victories and who was considered a real "comer." Betting was $40 to $4
against Nelson, but the tough lad came out of his corner, landed two punches,
a right and a left, and the fight was over, the quickest knockout in ring history
and a record that is reported to yet stand.

The McClatchey-Nelson association was interrupted when the former
bought a horse, Patroon, and went to New Orleans to watch it perform. Nelson
was left under the management of Ted Murphy, who gave McClatchey the
"double cross" and signed Nelson to an "iron-bound contract."

However, the friendship of Nelson and McClatchey survived and the
Harvey saloon-keeper spent a full month with his former protege when Nelson
trained for one of his biggest fights.

The Bat had captured national attention when, after fighting a draw with
the then lightweight champion, Tommy Neary, he came back just 10 days
later to score a knockout over the champion in six rounds at Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.

After a brilliant career, during which boxing writers were wont to write
their headlines before the fight even started, Nelson met his Waterloo in 1909
in the person of Joe Gans, a lightning-fast Negro, who battered Nelson in 42
rounds but eventually won the decision on a foul.

Although Bat came back to whip Gans in seven rounds, the sun was
setting on his career. It was to be brought to a conclusion when he was badly
beaten by Samuel Wolgast in the same year.

For Bill McClatchey, handling Battling Nelson was the highlight of a long
life. Always he treasured a cabinet photo of his boy, "resplendent in the
handkerchief pants in crouching fighting pose and the belt of a titleholder."

McClatchey picked up extra money by selling photos of his favorite at
$5.00 apiece.

LEADING CITIZENS OF THE PAST

People came to Harvey and stayed. Included were merchants, industrialists,
men of the world of medicine, working men seeking employment. It was the
combined qualities of those people, representing a wide range of interests, that
formed the firm foundation upon which the Harvey of the 1960's stands.

Some helped who will never receive deserved credit, but records are com-
plete enough to provide backgrounds of many who played prominent roles in
the city's development.

DR. THOMAS A. NOBLE

Born at Maple, Toronto, Canada, on November 3, 1858, and lived there
through his early years. Won his degree as Doctor of Medicine from the Uni-
versity of Toronto in 1888 and after four years of additional study and re-
search in Scotland, he established himself as not only Harvey's first doctor, but
one who won acclaim throughout his long life as one of the real stalwart citizens
with an interest that extended far beyond that of his profession.

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Married on January 18, 1910, to Lydia King, daughter of the Theodore
Kings of Harvey, he became the city's most highly respected man of medicine.
He served as physician for most of the city's early industrial plants, for the
Illinois Central railroad and, upon the founding of Ingalls Memorial Hospital,
he served as chief of staff.

Dr. Noble enjoyed a wide range of interests, each of which contributed
richly to his adopted community. He served as a member of the board of direc-
tors of the Bank of Harvey. He was a member of the board of education of
Thornton Township high school for 20 years, a portion of the period as presi-
dent. He is credited with having been instrumental in the founding of the
institution.

After more than three and a half decades of dedicated public service, Dr.
Noble died on September 12, 1927, biographed as "one of the most able and
unselfish men that Harvey has ever known."

But Dr. Noble's fine contributions still live in the person of his only son,
Thomas, who is widely regarded as one of the area's most accomplished
physician-surgeons. He practices from the same office as did his father, at 168
East 155th Street.

R. C. RIORDAN

A typical pioneer who had virtually "lived a lifetime" before he con-
quered the desire to roam, R. C. Riordan came to Harvey in 1891, erected a
building and conducted a profitable hardware business for many years.

Prior to his arrival here Mr. Riordan was one of the historically important
"49'ers" who journeyed to California in search of gold. His biographers record
that in the West he "engaged in mining and the hotel business for five years."

He was elected mayor when Harvey's status was changed from a village to
a city in 1894. He served also as president of the city's board of education.

"He is one of the.most genial men in the city, though rough going, upright,
successful, an accomplished extemporaneous speaker and a deeply devout
Episcopalean," his biographers declared.

FRANK PIAZZA

A native of Italy where he was born on July 7, 1870, Frank Piazza came
to Harvey in 1897 and became one of the city's most successful businessmen.

A graduate of the University of Palermo he was employed as a legal secre-
tary in his native Italy before coming to the United States in 1890.

Because of a language barrier it was impossible for him to continue his
secretarial career here and he entered the fruit and grocery business. A green-
house he constructed at 148th Street and Ashland Avenue stood for many
years.

During the early years of his merchant career he covered the community
residential areas carrying a basket from which he sold fresh fruit and vegetables.
His enterprises and fine business acumen resulted in the purchase of a horse and
wagon from which he later sold his merchandise.

Mr. Piazza built up a huge wholesale business and at one period was
recognized as the largest wholesaler of fruits and vegetables on the south side
of Chicago. His success led to his associating with the South Water Street
Merchandising Association.

Mr. and Mrs. Piazza (Catherine) were the parents of five children and one
son, James, is still in the fruit and grocery business in the community.

177

One of his contributions to the business area was the construction of the
Piazza building on Broadway, later sold to the city. The building now houses the
Harvey Police department.

Mr. Piazza died on May 3, 1938.

MATTHEW STOBBS, SR.

Matthew Stobbs, Sr., and his wife Dena arrived in Harvey from South
Dakota in 1893, bringing with them a family of eight children, Frank, Matthew,
Jr., William, John, Ellen, Etta, Emma and Thomas.

The family attained considerable community prominence. Frank served as
the first attorney for the city, Matthew entered the real estate business and later
operated a cigar store. He also became the Harvey mayor, succeeding George
H. Gibson.

Thomas was married to Maude Green, a daughter of the James N. Greens
who came to Harvey in 1891 from Michigan. Prior to his marriage he was en-
rolled in law school by his father and subsequently he became one of the most
capable of Harvey lawyers. He founded the firm of Stobbs, Yates and Wiseman.

Thomas had two children, Leona, who was married to the late John Yates,
also an attorney, and Robert, now a California resident.

A. J. SWETT

Born in Ogle County, Illinois became, at an early age, a telegrapher for the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad. Promoted to train dispatcher in Chi-
cago, his health failed and in 1890 he came to Harvey as an agent for the
Illinois Central railroad and the American Express Company.

In 1892 he was placed in charge of the local interests for the Chicago
Terminal Transfer Railroad and, it was recorded, "it was because of his efforts
that his road became a formidable competitor of the regular trunk lines."

Mr. Swett became active politically and served as alderman of the town's
Third Ward for three terms, six years, retiring undefeated.

C. W. STEVENS

Mr. Stevens probably left a more permanent mark in Harvey than any
single individual — he was an expert in building stone and much of the stone
that he produced is still visible in the buildings of yesteryear that remain.

Arriving in Harvey in 1893, he was heralded as "the inventor of the first
perfect manufactured stone, a stone so perfect that Uriah Cummings, an
authority on cement, said "it is in fact, an improvement on most natural stones,
not only in appearance but in strength and uniformity in texture."

His was a lifetime of experiments in the manufacture of stone which had
questionable success, being made of cement and chemical solutions. High costs
of manufacture had led most manufacturers to abandon the business.

Mr. Stevens, however, remained doggedly at his research and experiments,
and although he followed accepted methods until 1899, he could sense success
only by new techniques. These resulted in complete triumph, led to his winning
patents in 22 countries and to a virtual monopoly because of the absence of
conflicting patents.

DR. McROME MORSE

Born in Mexico, N. Y. on August 14, 1858, Dr. McRome Morse graduated

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from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1883 when a fellow class
member was the celebrated Dr. Charles Mayo, founder of the famed Mayo
clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Coming with his parents to Harvey in 1891, he was married here to Ala
Brown and the family spent their entire married life here.

Twenty years of the total 52 years he was in active practice, he served as
Harvey's health officer and for 23 years he was the medical examiner of one
of the nation's largest insurance companies. The family home from which Dr.
Morse conducted his medical practice through his long stay here, still stands at
15412 Center Avenue.

Dr. Morse died in that home on Sunday, March 11, 1935. A son, Dayton,
a registered pharmacist is, significantly, employed by the J. W. Oliver store, the
first pharmacy in Harvey.

JOSEPH C. BLACK

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Black migrated to Harvey from Grove City.
Pennsylvania with their four children, Eva L., Frances E., Thomas and Clint,
in 1891. Another son, Horace, remained in Grove City.

Mr. Black, a contractor and builder, erected a large home at 151st Street and
Center Avenue which was later moved to its present location at 15233 Center
Avenue.

The Blacks were among the families which founded the First Congregational
Church in 1892.

JOHN JACOB MADORY

Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Madory migrated to Harvey from Kenton. Ohio
in 1892, bringing with them three sons, Fred, Louis and Carl; and two daugh-
ters. Maude and Phoebe. Mr. Madory was a carpenter and well-driller.

Delia Pelletier, wife of Louis, came to Harvey with her parents. Joseph and
Mary, in 1897. and Mabel Burt, who became the wife of Carl came here with
her parents, George and Sarah, in 1895 from Chicago.

A son of the Carl Madorys, George, is a dentist in Harvey and another
son, Carl, Jr., was killed in Germany during World War II.

Maude Madory became Mrs. Jordan and Phoebe became Mrs. Moorehouse.

WILDER B. THOMPSON

Mr. Wilder B. Thompson, a Virginian by birth, grew up on a farm and
attended school in Mt. Morris, 111. Moving east to Philadelphia, he engaged in
the crockery business. After three years, he married, returned to Illinois and in
1892 settled in Harvey.

Thereafter, he was to become one of Harvey's leading businessmen, and it
is reported, one of its wealthiest.

Displaying undivided confidence in his adopted community. Wilder Thomp-
son is reported to have '"invested every dollar he had in Harvey business
property."

WILLIAM LOSTETTER

Natives of Owensboro, Kentucky, the Lostetter family moved to Harvey in
1892, to be joined later by a niece, Lida Norris, of Rising Sun, Indiana, who

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married Clint Black in 1898. In Kentucky Mr. Black was a member of the
State Legislature.

Mr. Lostetter owned and operated a furniture store on 154th Street, now
the site of the J. C. Penney Company.

The family's first home was on Loomis Avenue just south of 154th Street.

ELIHU HALL BARTLIT

Elihu Hall Bartlit, his wife Jennie, and their three children, Nan, Richard
and Virginia, came to Harvey in 1893 from the community of Jay, New York.

Mr. Bartlit had been employed as a general clerk in a dry goods store in his
home community and founded such a store immediately upon his arrival here.
The family remained in business until Mr. Bartlit's health failed.

Fred Bartlit, another son, was born in Harvey, is an attorney, and still
makes his home in this city, as do Richard and Nan, who reside in the old
family home on Center Avenue.

Virginia was married to the late Fred Craver. Their daughter, also named
Virginia, is married to Harold N. Savage and is a resident of Chicago.

THOMAS D. HOBSON

Thomas D. Hobson was born on May 7, 1858 and with his wife Minnie and
their two children, Edith and Norman, came to Harvey in March, 1891.

A contractor, he built many of the city's early buildings, most of which are
still standing and serving as landmarks. Shortly after his arrival he built the
French Block which has played such a prominent part in Harvey history.

He was the contractor for some 22 buildings on 154th Street, as well as
for many of the city's educational institutions. The original Thornton Town-
ship high school building, and several later additions, were among them. He
also was the builder of five Harvey grade schools, five of its churches and many
of the industrial plants.

His business activities were not confined to the local area, however, and he
was the builder of 135 school buildings throughout Illinois.

An avid prohibitionist, he was twice defeated for the office of mayor in
Harvey — first by Joshua Mathews and again by Edward M. Adams.

He was once the city engineer and he served several terms on the Thornton
Township High School Board of Education.

Mr. Hobson was a charter and life member of the Harvey Elks Lodge and
both he and Mrs. Hobson were active in the Masonic Lodge, his wife having
been elected twice as Worthy Matron of the Eastern Star.

Thomas Hobson died in Harvey on February 12, 1928.

Their son, Norman, is presently engaged in the building construction
business.

FRANK E. FOSTER

An attorney born in Greenville, Illinois on October 15, 1886, Frank E.
Foster became a well-known political figure after his arrival in Harvey, which
is believed to have been about 1919.

A graduate of Kent School of Law, he served as Harvey city attorney from
1927 to 1931. His political interest widened and as a member of the Republican
party he became active first on a township, then on a statewide basis. He was
elected to the Illinois legislature as a state representative in the late 1930's and
served five consecutive terms.

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He retired from active practice in January, 1949, and went to New Smyrna
Beach, Florida, where he engaged in stock farming, one of the first Floridians
to pursue this vocation which has since become one of that state's most im-
portant industries.

Fire destroyed the ranch property and, selling what was left, he moved to
Orlando, Florida, where he died before plans to begin a real estate and loan
business materialized.

Before leaving Harvey he was an active members of the local American
Legion post which he served as a commander. He was also affiliated with the
Chicago and Illinois Bar Associations, the Elks Lodge and the Federated
Church.

Mr. Foster died in Orlando in 1951.

W. L. A. WEIDEMANN

Born in Pennsylvania, W. L. A. Weidemann was taken by his parents as an
infant to Harrisburg, Illinois where he finished grade school, matriculating
later at Indiana State Normal College. He completed his education by taking
a business course at Terre Haute Commercial College.

Upon his arrival in Harvey in 1894 he opened a book and stationery store.
Later he erected the building at 180 East 154th Street where he expanded the
business to include sporting goods, ice cream and confections. Included also
were a rental library and a laundry agency.

Mr. Weidemann had the reputation of being one of the city's most public-
spirited residents and he was one of the founders and charter members of the
Harvey Civic club. He also served as the first president of the Whittier School
Parent-Teacher Association in 1914.

Mr. Weidemann died on July 5, 1915.

ORLANDO J. BOWEN

Born in Hillsdale, Michigan on January 26, 1865, Orlando Jeremiah Bowen
came to Harvey in 1892 and over the course of many years until his death in
1958 participated actively in the development of the city.

A contractor, he played a major role in the construction of many buildings
in Harvey prior to the opening of the Columbian Exposition in 1893. One of
these was a hotel on the site now occupied by the Perfection Gear Company.

A huge structure with several hundred rooms, the hotel burned to the
ground before it had registered its first guest.

During the Exposition, Mr. Bowen became a fair guide and often in later
life he donned his official uniform to attend an annual reunion staged by his
fellow guides.

When North Harvey became a governmental unit within itself, Mr. Bowen
served on the first board of trustees.

Later he served as a guard at the Cook County jail where one of his duties
was talking with prisoners condemned to the gallows. Subsequently, he operated
a real estate and insurance business.

Referred to affectionately as "the last of the first generation Harveyites"
late in life, Mr. Bowen was the father of four daughters, Mrs. Elsie Lehman,
Mrs. Alma McCormick, Miss Nellie Bowen and Mrs. Jean Coutchie.

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JAMES A. BATES

James A. Bates, who was to play a prominent role in Harvey affairs, was
born June 12, 1861 in Tazewell County, Illinois. As a small child he accom-
panied his parents to Dodge City, Kansas in a covered wagon.

In September, 1890 he came to Harvey and that same year was married in
Hopedale, Illinois to Lucy Marion Blayney and the couple moved into a home
Mr. Bates built at 15128 Turlington Avenue.

They became the parents of four children, two of them dying in infancy.
Two daughters, Ruby Bates and Mary Kelley, are still Harvey residents.

An extremely rugged character, Mr. Bates was closely associated with
many facets of local life during the early days. He was a carpenter and builder
and worked on many of the early buildings — residential, business and in-
dustrial. He also worked on structures erected for the Columbian Exposition.
During the fair he worked as a watchman at the Pennsylvania State building
and upon its conclusion he worked with crews which razed the buildings.

When Clark Ranger was the city's mayor he appointed Mr. Bates the chief
of police, the first in the city, and his name is one of those inscribed in the
cornerstone of the city hall.

There are many stories of the exploits of Mr. Bates. During his regime as
police chief he is credited with having exposed and captured a large ring of
counterfeiters who specialized in making "silver dollars" and coins of smaller
denomination. They were later successfully prosecuted and then imprisoned.

On another occasion he was the objective of a hoodlum's bullet which
passed through his chief's hat. He was the recipient of a special commendation
by the Illinois Central Railroad for having taken into custody a gang of

182

thieves who raided and burglarized the railroad's box cars of huge amounts of
copper and brass over a long period of time.

Mr. Bates' fame and ability became widely known and once he was
presented with a jewel-studded gold star by merchants of the Roseland-Blue
Island area for having captured a thief who had preyed on their stores. It is
legend that when he captured one of the thieves, the latter pulled the trigger of
his revolver five times and Bates lived only bcause the gun failed to fire. The
Harvey chief then shot the thief in the leg.

It is interesting to note that the thief was administered to in an emergency
room in the old Harvey Land Association building by Mrs. Bates and Dr.
Thomas Noble. It was Mrs. Bates who learned from the thief where he had
hidden the loot from his robberies and it was to her that he confessed many of
his crimes. He was found guilty and served a term in Joli-et penitentiary.

On another occasion Chief Bates is credited with having prevented the
'lynching" of a man accused of having raped an elderly Harvey woman. To
prevent mob action, Chief Bates spirited the prisoner out of the local jail and
took him to Blue Island. The man was later convicted of the crime and sent to
Joliet prison.

Mr. Bates served in many other capacities, these including: superintendent
of mechanics for Cook County (1909-1911); Cook County Constable (1908-
1912); Harvey Police Magistrate (1909-1919); City Commissioner (1927-
1931).

In later years he was a maintenance man at Thornton Township High
School.

Other activities of historical interest in which he participated included the
ownership of the first automobile sales agency in the community, which he
operated from 1912 to 1932; last charter member of the Harvey Masonic
Lodge to die (he was a 32nd Degree Mason).

Mr. Bates died here on February 15, 1951.

DR. G. A. STEVENSON

A native of Indiana, Dr. G. A. Stevenson, was a graduate of the high
school in Rising Sun. where he was born on April 15, 1866. He won his degree
in dental surgery at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois from
whence he came directly to Harvey in 1891 to become the young community's
first dentist.

The years to pass stamped Dr. Stevenson not only as a professional man of
medicine, but as one of the town's most able financiers, one of its leaders in
the field of education and a man who was to play a key role in the upgrading of
his community.

Prior to winning his dental degree at Northwestern Dr. Stevenson gradu-
ated from Wabash University in Indiana. He also took a teacher's course at
Lebanon, Ohio, Normal college and followed the teaching profession for an
unknown number of years.

It was natural that Dr. Stevenson was to serve on the board of education
of what was later to become Grade School District #152 and his efforts were
crowned when he was elected to the presidency of that board in 1901.

He is reported by biographers to have put the schools on a "sound financial
basis," which probably led to his being elected as the Thornton Township school
treasurer in 1902, a post which he held for 36 years, after his resignation from
the board of education. As treasurer he handled about $150,000 annually and
although that was regarded as an astronomical sum in terms of the times, this

183

same educational system now expends in excess of $11,592,000 each year.

He became identified with the Bank of Harvey in 1922 and when he was
named to the presidency of the institution he gave up his dental practice.

Other positions of importance filled by Dr. Stevenson were the presidencies
of the Harvey Chamber of Commerce, of the Harvey Real Estate Board and of
the Harvey Finance and Thrift Company.

He died of a heart attack in Harvey on January 4, 1938.

EDWARD VANCE

Edward Vance arrived in Harvey in the fall of 1892 and established the
Wausau Lumber and Coal Company in Harvey. His wife, Margaret and
daughter, Ruth, arrived the following June and the family home was established
at 157 East 155th Street, where a son, George, was born in July, 1896.

Mr. Vance, a deeply religious man, was one of the founders of the Presby-
terian church on Center Avenue, served on its board of trustees for a number
of years, as well as superintendent of the Sunday school. He was also a mem-
ber of the Harvey Union Club.

In 1907 he disposed of his lumber company and bought the Riordan Hard-
ware Store, moving it from a Columbia Avenue location to 177 East 154th
Street.

Mrs. Vance died in March 1911 and Mr. Vance in September 1935.

WILLIAM H. DAY

William H. Day, having been hired by a wholesale plumbing concern in
Chicago to install sewers and water mains in Harvey, arrived here in 1890 with
his wife and three sons, Stephen, William G. and Harold.

Establishing their residence on Turlington Avenue between 154th and
155th Streets, the senior Day and Stephen opened a plumbing shop on the
west side of Columbia Avenue between 154th and 155th Streets.

Almost immediately they contracted to build a three story business structure
(the Day block) on 154th Street east of Columbia Avenue where the South
Suburban Safeway Lines depot now stands. The Days used the west side of the
first floor for their plumbing shop. Another portion of the structure housed the
mortuary of William E. Kerr and the second floor was divided into apartments.
The third floor was a spacious meeting hall, used by the Odd Fellows and
Rebekah lodges — the latter lodge having been named in honor of Mr. Day.
It remains so named even today.

After installing much of the plumbing in the structures being built in antici-
pation of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Mr. Day died during the
exposition in 1893. His wife did not succumb until 1917.

CHARLES S. ARMINGTON

Born in Burns, Wisconsin, Charles S. Armington migrated to Vermillion,
South Dakota, where he is said to have taught in the "first small schoolhouse"
in the state.

He moved later to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he learned the plumbing
trade and then, in 1899, he came to Harvey where he established a plumbing
business that continues to flourish under the ownership of his son, Paul. His
first place of business was on Center Avenue near 154th Street, his next at the
northwest corner of the same intersection. Later he purchased and moved the
business to its present location at 15339 Center Avenue.

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After 42 years as a Harvey businessman he died at Ingalls Memorial hos-
pital following an operation in November, 1941.

Another son, Henry, is a resident of San Diego, California.

JOHN D. McLARTY

A pioneer resident of Harvey was John D. McLarty who came from Michi-
gan in 1893 to attend the Columbian Exposition and remained here for 66
years until his death in May 1959 when he was 91 years old. Lucy Gardiner
also came to the Exposition and was working at Mrs. Millison's boarding
house when she met John McLarty. They were married in 1898, and became
the parents of six children, four of whom are still living. They are Alfred of
Urbana, Illinois; Helen of Harvey; Edith McLarty Halverson of Glenview, Illi-
nois; and John of East Lansing, Michigan.

Mrs. McLarty died in 1915 and "Dad", as he was affectionately called,
saw that his family had college educations although he worked many days and
nights at the Buda Company to make it possible. McLarty's corner store at
Myrtle Avenue and 154th Street will be remembered by many older citizens as
the place they bought ice cream and penny candy when they were children.
Philosophy and good advice were offered free of charge.

Mr. McLarty had a life long interest in civic affairs. As a young man he
served as an alderman (1907-1909), member of the Board of Education of
District 147 and later as a member of the Calumet Union Drainage District
board for many years.

His real contribution to Harvey was not as an official but simply as a good
citizen, who was always willing to work on committees or in political campaigns,
or promoting the drive to get a high school for Harvey. He worked diligently on
bond issues to improve the schools, was active as a member of the P.T.A. of
the Whittier school, the Odd Fellows and the First Methodist Church.

CLARK W. RANGER

Born in Chesterfield, Ohio, Clark W. Ranger became a resident of the
State of Michigan where he taught school for several years before coming to
Harvey in 1891.

In Harvey he became prominent in the building field and a partner of
Thomas Hobson. The firm built many of the community's finer structures, in-
cluding Thornton Township High School. It also served as general contractor
for schools in Homewood and Chicago Heights and many of the area's most
attractive residences.

Active civically, Mr. Ranger served two terms as Harvey's mayor, from
1897 to 1899, and again from 1903 to 1904.

JAMES B. ELLIS

Born October 16, 1876 in Metamora, Illinois, James B. Ellis came to
Harvey with his parents in 1890. Upon reaching adulthood, he became widely
known throughout the south suburban area. An accomplished musician, he
played the cornet with some outstanding orchestras.

Entering the political field he served for 24 years as clerk for Thornton
Township, a career that was interrupted by his death on March 25, 1933. A
veteran of the Spanish-American War, he served for a period in Cuba.

He was elected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in
Chicago in 1932.

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GEORGE MONCKTON

The family of George and Ellen Monckton, which included four daughters,
Anna, Ellen, Mary and Jennie, arrived in Harvey in 1890 from Grinnell, Iowa.

Mr. Monckton went to work first for the Craver Steel Company and later
for the Austin Company. Their residence was in the "north flats" on Columbia
Avenue (now Broadway).

The Monckton family played an extremely active role in the life of the
community. Mr. Monckton was elected to public office in the community more
times than any other individual in history.

Named an alderman for the first time on May 1, 1898, he was re-elected in
1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1911 and 1913. Thus he
served 1 1 terms in public office.

The family also played an active part in the religious life of the community
and they contributed much of the effort that resulted in the founding of the
Ascension parish in Harvey.

MR. A. WAIT WERNER

A leading furniture dealer of Harvey's early days and extending into the
1920's was A. Wait Werner. A Virginian by birth he left that state at the age
of five and his background has been lost in the passing of time. However, he
established himself in the furniture business in Harvey in 1896, coming here
from Chicago Heights where he conducted a similar business. Much of the
furniture which graced the homes of Harvey's early residents was purchased
from Mr. Werner.

WILLIAM L. VOSS, SR.

An arrival in Harvey in 1895, William L. Voss, Sr. has been hailed by his
biographers as "one of the city's outstanding men."

As a young man of 26 he went to work for the Whiting Foundry and
Equipment Company upon his arrival here, and shortly thereafter was pro-
moted to general foreman of the foundry and machine shop.

Walter Haines, who had served his apprenticeship at the Whiting with Bill
Voss, recalls that the latter "taught many of the community's young men to
become expert mechanics."

After long years of service with Whiting he joined the staff at Calumet
Engineering Works which was later to become Allied Steel Casting Co.

But Bill Voss really came into his own as owner of a grocery store, a
business he piloted for more than 30 years during which he is credited with
"never having refused credit to anyone, even throughout periods of depression."

Mr. Voss did not restrict himself to his business and beginning in 1910
he began a career as one of the leading government officials in both Thornton
township and the City of Harvey. It was in that year he was elected township
assessor. Four years before he had been elected as a member of the board of
education of Grade School District 152 and it was upon his insistence that the
board purchased the plot of ground upon which the Whittier school of today
stands.

On the city level, Mr. Voss became Commissioner of Public Improvements
when Matt Stobbs was elected Mayor. His colleagues on the council were J.
Clyde Ellis, George Mahan and Harry Foltz. In 1924 Mr. Stobbs was re-elected
along with Mr. Voss, Fred Fowler, Harry Foltz and Walter Haines, who were
to become widely known as the "Four Horsemen."

186

History reveals that the City's water was then supplied by a public utility
compan) and that new homes found it difficult to obtain water because the
supply came from two small wells at 148th Street and Paulina Avenue on the
site now occupied by the city's water reservoir and pumping station.

Under the succeeding administration of George H. Gibson relief of the
small supply was negotiated, but it required the assistance of the Hon. Fred-
erick R. DeYoung, who introduced into the Illinois Legislature a bill which
would permit the City of Chicago to supply water to communities outside the
jurisdiction of the Chicago Sanitary District.

In the wake of this development, Bill Voss proposed to the council that the
city purchase the water works from a public utility company. After long dis-
cussion and many public meetings, the purchase was consummated and paid
for by special assessment. Mains were extended to all areas of the community
and the basis for the fine water system of today was formed.

Bill Voss was a charter member of the Harvey Elks Lodge 1242 and as
exalted ruler serving with Trustees Elmer Flewelling and Edward Adams, the
present site of the Elks home was purchased.

No longer a member of the city council, Mr. Voss nevertheless continued
to work for the government serving as city treasurer for two terms, 1927-1935,
under the administration of Frank W. Bruggemann. Later he served on the
Cook County Zoning Board and his public life neared its close when he was
named by the Thornton Township board of education to serve as inspector
when the new Thornton High gymnasium was erected in 1950.

Mr. Voss spent his declining years at the home of his sister, Mrs. William
Woodward in Latonia, Ohio and he died in that city on March 24, 1960.

JAMES A. BASTAR

Another of the city's pioneers whose name was closely associated with the
business life of the community throughout the years was James A. Bastar, who
arrived here on September 9, 1901 and immediately opened a jewelry store
several doors east of what is known as the Security building, now occupied by
the Harvey Federal Savings and Loan Association.

Four years later Mr. Bastar moved his shop to the building at the northeast
corner of 154th Street and Center Avenue, now occupied by Breeden's Gift
Shop.

In 1911 the shop was moved to 171 East 154th Street, where the successful
business is still being carried on by Mr. Bastar's descendants.

During Mr. Bastar's later life active management of the business was under-
taken by a son, Edward, and a son-in-law, George Tesar, the latter now being
the active head of the business in conjunction with Miss Alice Bastar, daughter
of the founder, John Bastar, the son of Edward, and George Tesar, Jr.

In his memoirs Mr. Bastar recalls the inconveniences of the day, most dis-
turbing being the lack of water supply.

"There was no water line to our home at 157th Street and Myrtle Avenue
so it was necessary for us to carry water from Vine Avenue."

Mr. Bastar records the "big flood" which engulfed the town in the Spring
of 1902. "The street was knee high in dirty liquid and one of the Lau boys was
running a ferry boat across 154th Street. There was no business that day."

"Rents in those days were low," Mr. Bastar said, "and I paid $7.50 per
month for my first store. The Stevenson Building (southwest corner of 154th
Street and Center Avenue) was up for rent for $15 per month."

187

WILLIAM B. SOENKSEN

Another of the second (actually the third) generation retail stores in the
Harvey of today is the Eagle Department Store located at 181 East 154th
Street.

The store was founded on November 1, 1900 by William B. Soenksen who
came to Harvey from Chicago after an unusually eventful life.

Born in Flensburg, Germany on August 22, 1861, he came to the United
States at the age of 21 after having served in the German Army. It was in his
native country that he learned the dry goods business which he and his descend-
ants were to follow for more than 60 years.

An apprenticeship in Germany was followed by two years as a clerk in a
Chicago store, after which he toured the Western part of the country as a
representative for a wholesale house. Eventually, he opened a department
store with a partner, later establishing his own business, before his final move
to Harvey where his store was acclaimed as "the community's largest mercan-
tile establishment."

Records of those days reveal that "Mr. Soenksen is evidently a self-made
man and he has proven beyond doubt that a large department store pays in
Harvey, close as it is to the center of things. He has probably done more than
any other man to induce farmers of the area to make Harvey their trading
post."

Active management of the Eagle Store eventually was assumed by his son
Paul, who preserved its status as one of the city's most successful retail enter-
prises until today. Although Paul still remains active in the operation actual
management is vested now in his son, William.

WILLIAM H. MILLER

Many men are conceded to have made tremendous impact on the City of
Harvey during its formative years, but none is credited with a more important
contribution to the city's perpetuity than William H. Miller, founder of its first
financial institution.

Moving west from his native New York State, William Miller settled in the
city of Aurora in 1842, a youthful member of a family of hardy pioneers. This
youth was destined to become "one of the leading men of affairs in Harvey."

After five months here he founded the Bank of Harvey, destined to close
during the tremendous depression of the early 1930's, not because of the in-
solvency but because of the impossibility of converting assets into cash. De-
positors are reported to have later received "100 cents on the dollar."

Among other civic activities Mr. Miller served as City Treasurer, also as
president of the Thornton Township Board of Education (1898-1912). As a
school board member he is credited with "having done more than any other
single man for the successful financing of the high school and elevating it to
its present status as one of Cook County's finest."

"I am proud," Mr. Miller told a writer of the early days, "of the business I
have built and what little I have done to establish the high school. I intend to
remain in Harvey the rest of my life."

S. B. McELDOWNEY

Reportedly one of the better known residents in the city's early days was
S. B. McEldowney, an industrialist, who was born in the area which is now
Chicago Heights, where his family settled in 1832.

188

Owner of a common school education, his first occupation was that of travel-
ing representative for a dry goods company.

In 1893 he and a brother bought the Harvey Boiler Works at 157th and
Halsted from its founder, Jonathan Matthews. Shortly thereafter a reorganiza-
tion paved the way for expansion of the company's activities and it was re-
named the Great Northern Construction Company. Manufacture of boilers
was discontinued and the firm devoted its activity to the construction of steel
girders, grain elevators and kindred products.

WILLIAM NICHOLSON

William Nicholson became a resident of Harvey in 1893 after spending his
early years in New York state. Educated at Troy, N. Y. University, he spent 15
years in the hardware business in Elwood, Illinois. As a Harveyite he pur-
chased an established flour and feed business here, built his own home and
became a leading member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church.

S. A. CARPENTER

An arrival here in 1892 S. A. Carpenter is recorded as having "invested all
his savings in a shop where he followed the professions of optician and jeweler.
He studied at Dunham Medical School and North Illinois Optical College,
specializing in eye, ear and nose work.

THOMAS McFARLANE

"Mature judgment and conscientiousness" are reported as the qualities
possessed by Thomas McFarlane, an arrival in Harvey from Iowa City, Iowa,
on New Year's Day in 1891.

A native of the State of Rhode Island, he was of Scottish ancestry which
probably provided the background for his activity in the cattle business.

In Iowa he engaged in farming and the breeding of Angus cattle. Seeing
the tremendous possibilities of the breed, his studies qualified him as an
authority and he became national secretary of the American Aberdeen-Angus
Breeders' Association. It was in this role that he came to Harvey which became
the national headquarters of the association.

Biographers of the time report him as the editor of 11 out of 12 herd
books published by that association.

Obviously well-off financially, Mr. Farlane erected one of the city's finest
residences of the era at 15440 Turlington Avenue, now owned and occupied
by Sam R. Ruble. It became an item of interest and "all comers were invited
to view its elegance."

An intelligent, learned man, his counsel was sought on many community
problems and in 1892 he was elected president of the young village. Although
he served for only one year, it was replete with action and accomplishment.
Plans were formulated which culminated in the installation of "an outlet sewer
of brick to replace a decayed wooden one." His "energetic examination of the
city water system resulted in many improvements both in the quality of the
water and the manner of distributing it."

Although Mr. McFarlane had endeared himself to his townsmen because
of his intelligence and ability he "persistently declined election to any public
office after his term as president. Yet he remained active as an advisor and was
consulted in every proposition that gave the community breadth and perm-
anence."

189

H. H. MYNARD

At the age of eight, Mr. H. H. Mynard moved to Harvey with his family
from Crete, Illinois in 1891. A farmer in his youth he later turned to the real
estate business and he became one of young Harvey's most successful dealers.

His small frame office at the southwest corner of 154th Street and Turling-
ton Avenue stood for many years and in its early years was referred to as
"handsomely fitted."

V. C. LENOX

Coming to Harvey in 1892, V. C. Lenox purchased an interest in the coal
firm of Hoag and Webber, assuming the Hoag share of the enterprise. A native
of Ohio, he earned the rank of sergeant major for bravery in action during the
Civil War.

He became the sole owner of the coal business and changed its name to
Harvey Coal Co.

WILLIAM J. McCORKINDALE

Born in the electrical business, his father having been chief engineer for
the Edison Company in New Orleans, Louisiana, William J. McCorkindale
came to Harvey in 1892 as a cashier for the Harvey Steel Car Company at
157th and Halsted Streets.

After a short time with the steel car firm he was transferred to the office
of the Calumet Lighting Co. by Turlington W. Harvey.

In addition to his business activity, he became a public figure as a trustee
of the Thornton Township school system, as the Thornton Township clerk for
two terms, and as a leading member of St. Clement's Episcopal Church.

A. D. HEINDEL

A native of Wisconsin, Mr. A. D. Heindel conducted a grocery business in
Warren, Illinois until his arrival in Harvey in the Spring of 1893.

He pursued the same vocation here, establishing a store, first at 15412
Columbia Avenue (Broadway), later at the southeast corner of 153rd Street
and Center Avenue. His will be remembered by many of the middle-aged of
the present era as the shop where students at the old Cary school, one-half
block west, purchased their daily allotment of "penny" candy. The building he
occupied still stands, remodeled and divided into apartments.

Historians hailed him as an "exemplification of what a man can do who
thoroughly understands his business." He was a member of several "secret"
societies and served as treasurer of the Harvey Businessmen's Club for two
years.

WILLIAM BUEHLER

Born in Germany, William Buehler came to the United States at an early
age, learned the bakery business as an apprentice in New York City, and en-
gaged in that business there until his arrival in Harvey in 1894.

Opening a bakery business in the Ott Building at 15406 Columbia Ave. he
later bought a building on 154th Street near Loomis Avenue which he occupied
for many years. His wife, too, as well as his sons, William and Joseph, were
active in the business until the mid-1920's.

190

FRED A. AND FRANK T. BRALEY

Born in Vermont, Fred A. Brale) arrived in Harvey in 1X92, promptly
entering the real estate business, later he formed a partnership with (ieorge
Bosworth, in the grocery business, in the building just east of the city hall. For
seven years the business flourished and during the period Mr. Braley found
time to serve his townsmen as a member of the Thornton Township High
Sehool Board o\ Education for a term and as Mayor of the community in
1898-1890. He was the owner of extensive real estate, recorded as "improved"
at that time.

A brother, Frank, bought out Fred's interest in the grocery firm and be-
came a partner of Mr. Bosworth. Frank was a later arrival in the community
than was his brother, coming here in 1896 after a period of residence in Iowa.

A. WAIT

Harvey appeared, in its early days to be well supplied with butchers and A.
Wait was a part of that group which plied the trade here.

JAMES PETTIGREW

A native of Ayrshire, Scotland, James Pettigrew, an iron moulder, came to
Harvey in 1890 from the State of Iowa to where he had migrated from his
native land at the age of 27. It was in the state of the tall corn that he served
his apprenticeship and where he remained for nine years.

An astute businessman as well as an accomplished tradesman, Mr. Petti-
grew founded the Enterprise Foundry, located at 157th and Halsted Streets.
From a modest start that saw his monthly gross earnings about $400 his busi-
ness grew and the biographers of the early 1900's record that in just a few
years that gross had increased to more than $8,000 monthly.

"Mr. Pettigrew's career in Harvey shows that 'opportunity' did not cease
to exist somewhere in the last century, but in spite of the trusts, in spite of
sharp competition, a hustling, energetic, tactful man who knows his business
thoroughly is bound to make it win," a sage of yesteryear recalls in describing
Mr. Pettigrew.

In addition to his business activities, Mr. Pettigrew was active in the political
field and served three terms in the early 1900's as assessor of Thornton Town-
ship and for three years as president of the District 152 Board of Education.

GEORGE F. BOSWORTH

George F. Bosworth was an arrival in Harvey in 1891 and entered the
grocery business with Mr. Braley, whose biography precedes. He had previ-
ously engaged in the same business in Seneca and Ottawa, Illinois. Upon his
arrival here he worked as a grocery clerk, soon after forming the Braley-Bos-
worth partnership.

Born in New York State he came to Harvey in March, 1891 and became a
dealer in meats. A civic minded individual he served as an alderman of the
second ward in 1896-97 and was president of the Harvey Businessmen's Club
for two years.

THOMAS J. PHILLIPS

A native of Arthur. Ontario, Canada. Thomas J. Phillips came to Harvey

191

in 1907 with his wife and sons, L. Arthur and Howard B. The family lived for
many years at 15419 Loomis Avenue.

Active in the Presbyterian church, he served as an elder and, as one of a
committee of two, he helped solidify the plans for combining the Presbyterian
and the First Congregational to form what is now the Federated church.

Mr. Phillips, who was employed by the Austin Manufacturing Company un-
til his retirement, died in March 1930 and Mrs. Phillips in May 1948.

One son, L. Arthur, was a pharmacist by profession and worked for
Harvey's first drug store, Oliver's for many years, later taking charge of the
pharmacy at Ingalls Memorial hospital, after spending a period between in the
insurance business. He died in 1955.

The other son, Howard, was widely acclaimed throughout the Chicago
metropolitan area as a vocalist and choir director, charges he assumed at a
number of churches, including the Presbyterian, and later the Federated. He
still resides in the family's Loomis Avenue residence.

Mrs. Phillips is the former Ruth Vance.

WILLIAM E. McVEY

Dr. William E. McVey, one of the most widely known and respected per-
sonalities in the educational and political areas of Harvey, was born on De-
cember 13, 1885 in Clinton County, Ohio. He came to Harvey to assume the
superintendency of Thornton Township High School in 1920, a position he
held until 1947 when he resigned to accept a position as personnel manager
for a cosmetics firm.

Education being his major interest in life he returned to that profession to
become a professor at Roosevelt College in Chicago, transferring later to
DePaul University as a professor of education.

During Mr. McVey's tenure at Thornton high, which began after he had
served first in the Philippine Islands and then as a member of the faculty at
Ohio State University in Columbus, he became recognized as one of the nation's
leading educators. He was awarded his bachelor's degree by Ohio university in
1916 when he was valedictorian of his class. The University of Chicago
awarded his master's and doctor's degrees.

During his 27 years at Thornton the institution grew from 400 students
to 4,000. In 1927 he was instrumental in founding Thornton Junior College.
From a student body of 60 for the first year, it had grown to 550 at the time
of his death on August 10, 1958.

In 1950, Dr. McVey once more left the educational field and because close
friends sensed in him the qualities of leadership and knew his wide popularity,
he was prevailed upon to enter the political field in which he was to become
eminently successful.

He was first presented to the -electorate as Republican candidate for town-
ship assessor in 1950. Elected, he served only for a year when he was pre-
vailed upon once again by friends to seek higher office. Resigning his township
office, he entered the campaign for United States Representative in 1951 and in
November of that year he defeated the Democratic incumbent, James V. Buck-
ley for Congressman from the Fourth Congressional District.

Applying the same principles to politics that he had to the educational pro-
fession, Dr. McVey was re-elected to the United States Congress for three
successive terms, only death cutting short his career.

As he entered his first national campaign, he was quoted as saying, "My
goal as an educator was to help the youth of America achieve for themselves

192

a fuller, freer and a richer life. This will be my goal as your Congressman."

Those who pressed for him to seek the office and who successfully guided
his campaigns recognized Dr. McVey as a man with unlimited respect for
those he represented.

"He was a man of vision and sound thinking and believes our country's
first obligation is to its youth," they said of him.

As a Congressman he fought deficit spending by the Federal government.
He expressed concern over what he termed the "drift toward socialism," and
he pledged himself to espouse the cause of a sound foreign policy in the world-
wide complications that became characteristic of the era. He spoke often on
the protection of individual liberty, the right to work and save and to achieve
security through individual effort. With full knowledge of the ravages of three
great wars that transpired during his lifetime, he dedicated himself to helping
achieve a lasting peace.

Although he did not seek them, honors that came to him were innumerable.
His active part in civic life came as a natural development of his love for
people. He was active in the Harvey Memorial YMCA from its formation and
served as chairman of its Executive Committee in 1944. He became chairman
of its Board of Directors in 1949 and upon the expiration of his term he was
voted a lifetime honorary membership.

Dr. McVey served as a president of the Harvey Rotary International Club
and was voted an honorary life membership. He was a member of and
an active worker for the American Red Cross, the Community Chest, the
Veterans Information center and the Harvey Association of Commerce and
Industry. In addition, he served on the board of directors of each of those
groups for varying lengths of time.

In attendance at his funeral services in Harvey on April 13 were many of
his colleagues in the educational field, and those in the United States Con-
gress as well as hundreds of his former students, many of whom he saw rise to
responsible positions in the business, educational and political fields.

JAMES L. BRODERICK, SR.

Born in LaSalle County, Illinois in August, 1857, James L. Broderick, Sr.,
spent his early years as a farmer. Later he toured the Middlewest by wagon,
selling groceries and dry goods for a mail order house.

In May, 1898 he brought his wife and family of nine children to Harvey
and was employed by the Harvey Transit Company. He was to become, how-
ever, a "jack-of-all-trades" and successively he became a worker for the Whit-
ing Corporation, a self-employed tavern keeper, an employee of George M.
Clarke Company.

Intensely interested in politics he became a Clerk for Judge Henry Horner
in Probate Court and remained in that position when Judge Horner became
Governor of Illinois. His last employment in the political field was as a clerk
in the Cook County Clerk's office. He is reported to have been one of the
original corps of Harvey Democrats along with Jerry O'Rourke. Henry Ansorg
and Paul Dratz.

Mr. Broderick retired at 74 in 1931 and died at 82 in June, 1939.

A son, James Jr., and a grandson, James III, are members of the Broderick
and Kane Real Estate firm along with Robert Kane and have been the agents
for many recent and large real estate transactions.

193

LUCIEN M. DAVIDSON

Born on September 3, 1846 in Sewosa, Michigan, Lucien M. Davidson lived
successively in Coldwater, Michigan, Michigan City, Indiana, and Chicago,
Illinois before arriving in Harvey in 1891, where he made his home until his
death at 84 on June 10, 1931.

Mr. Davidson did much of the early work of laying out and grading the
first streets, as well as planting the first trees and acquitting other duties for
Turlington W. Harvey. Later, he owned and operated a livery stable on 153rd
Street between Columbia Avenue and Main Street.

CHARLES L. (CHICK) DAVIDSON

Charles Davidson, son of Lucien, was born in Hillside, Michigan, on
September 12, 1867. With his father, he worked on the city's early streets and
later became associated with his father in the livery business. He also served as
a city fireman from 1897 through 1901 and as a city policeman for an unknown
period.

A daughter, Ruth (Mrs. E. F. Delano) was the second baby born in Harvey.

JULIAN VINCENT

Julian Vincent, the city's first blacksmith, was born in Canada in 1860 and
when eight years old came to the United States with his parents.

Coming to Harvey in 1892, Mr. Vincent established a blacksmith and wagon
business on the north side of 153rd Street between Columbia Avenue and Main
Street and he continued in this business until just prior to his death on Decem-
ber 20, 1928.

Early documents record that Mr. Vincent was a master craftsman belong-
ing to the "old order of blacksmiths", a tradesman who could build a carriage
from the fashioning of the wheels themselves, through the construction of the
body, upholstering and striping, including the iron work, all hand-crafted.

A son, Raymond, still a resident of Harvey and recently retired from Bliss
and Laughlin, Inc., recalls that the Davidson livery across the street from his
father's blacksmith shop, was often a scene of great excitement.

"The Schultz Baking Company," he says, "kept their wagon and a team of
mules at Davidson's and each month when the mules were shoed, it formed
one of the city's spectaculars, because of the mean temperament possessed by
the animals. The resultant show always commanded a big audience."

As a youth, Ray recalls, he remembers some of the weekly spectators as
Sandy Brown, Peter Beck, Dan Bradley, William E. Kerr, Jim Bates, Lonnie
Kraay, Jim Pettigrew, Henry Becker and Charles Applegate.

"All," he says, "sat on old nail kegs, waiting for my dad and brother, the
late Fred who served for many years as a city policeman, to put the shoes on
the mules."

GEORGE H. GIBSON

Few in the history of Harvey have served their community with greater
distinction or left a more lasting impression on the community than George H.
Gibson.

A native of Peoria, Illinois, he came to Harvey in 1901 and from that point
until his death on July 22, 1955 he made innumerable contributions to his
adopted community. A public servant of scrupulous honesty, a man of vision

194

dedicated to the city's industrial, educational and moral improvement, he was
sagacious, friendly and a talented businessman.

*i found Harvey a cordial, friendly place, a good city in which to live; en-
joying the advantages of proximity to Chicago, our large neighbor to the north,
but yet with the coziness and friendships of a small community," he wrote
when the city observed its 50th anniversary in 1940.

Upon his arrival here he assumed the presidency of the E. A. Brayn
Company, manufacturers of tanks and structural equipment.

Elected as mayor when the commissioner form of government was adopted
in 1913, he served until 1919. His accomplishments during that tenure will be
found in detail in the section on government in this history.

Mr. Gibson was one of the founders of the First National Bank in Harvey
in 1937 when he was elected chairman of the board of directors. He served
continuously as chairman until he died.

Elected to the Thornton Township High School Board of Education in
1912, he was re-elected for 13 consecutive terms before his retirement in 1951.
For the last four years as a member of that board he served as its president.

Records indicate that the high school grew from 15 members of the faculty
to 135, and the student body from 350 to more than 3,000, during his years
on the board.

WILLIAM E. KERR

Born at Kerr's Corner, Ohio, on December 27, 1860 to William and Sarah,
William E. Kerr came to Harvey in 1889, early documents revealing that he
was the second man to locate in the city.

As a young man he left Ohio and went to South Dakota where he became
a buffalo hunter supplying meat to the United States Army for their troops at
Fort Pierre.

He was married at Pierre, South Dakota to Addie E. Boughton, brought his
bride of four years to Harvey where he was to play an important role in the
community's early civic life.

Entering first the coal and lumber business he later became the commu-
nity's first undertaker, establishing a business that continues to flourish and
is recognized as one of the outstanding mortuaries in the South Suburban
area. The firm, still conducted by William Kerr's descendents, recently under-
went a building program that added to the community one of its outstanding
structures at 26 West 154th Street.

Mrs. Frank Bruggemann, daughter of Mr. Kerr, Verne V. Vedder and
Norma Bruggemann, grandchildren, still conduct the business, Harvey's oldest
in the point of continuous operation, since the death of Frank W. Bruggemann,
a son-in-law, who died when he was serving as mayor in 1942.

Mr. Kerr compiled an enviable record of service to the community prior
to his death in 1931. He was elected mayor in 1905 when the office carried
a term of only a single year. In 1906 he was an opponent of E. N. Flewelling
for mayor. Mr. Flewelling won by two votes and Mr. Kerr contested the elec-
tion. His protest ended eventually in the Illinois Supreme Court which found
three defective votes in a west side precinct. When they were thrown out Mr.
Kerr was the victor by one vote. Mr. Kerr became mayor again on an acting
basis in 1908 serving out the year's term of his predecessor.

Early documents refer to Mr. Kerr has "a born organizer and leader who
has occupied many positions of honor and trust."

He served as president of the Harvey drainage board from 1899 to 1903,

195

ALBERT MYRON LAMBERT, SR.

Perhaps no individual has cast a greater influence over a greater number
of years in the affairs of the City of Harvey than did Albert Myron Lambert,
Sr., who came h^re as an ambitious young newspaper man and remained as
publisher of the Harvey Tribune until his death on April 9, 1936 at the age
of 64.

Born in Iowa on February 2, 1862, Mr. Lambert was to be indoctrinated
as a newspaperman at an early age because his father, John Y. Lambert, was
the publisher of the State of Nebraska's first newspaper.

In the early 1890's father and son became associates in publishing the
Jacksonville, Illinois Star.

Mr. Lambert came here to first become an employee of the old Tribune-
Citizen and then its owner. He founded a business that has survived throughout
the years and has become, perhaps, one of the most potent influences in
the city's development.

After his death in 1936 his position was assumed by his eldest son, A. M.
Lambert, Jr., who is still actively engaged in the newspaper's affairs although
the actual management of the firm is now vested in his son Charles.

But to understand the development of the Harvey Tribune under the leader-
ship of Mr. Lambert there is certain historically-important background mate-
rial that should be recorded.

Harvey's first newspaper was the "Headlight" owned by Turlington W.
Harvey and published as a daily newspaper by Frank Cross. The plant was
located between Park and Main Streets near the Grand Trunk railroad and
the paper was published there until its purchase in 1895 by Alec Majors and
Frank Just who moved operations to 154th Street and changed the name of
the publication to the "Harvey Tribune."

Another newspaper, The Harvey Citizen, was being published by Levi
and Jennie Beers who were later joined by Lucy Page Gaston who became
internationally known as a reformer. Together these three fought bitterly to
prevent the encroachment of saloons in this temperance community, and to
fight the use of cigarettes for which Miss Gaston coined the name "coffin nails."

The Majors and Just partnership bought out the Citizen and functioned
during the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1896 Just sold his interest
to Earl Lennox, who had been employed by the firm as a foreman in the
commercial printing department and whose father operated a coal business here.

A. M. Lambert, Sr., arrived in the community with his wife, Dora, in 1902
to become foreman of the Tribune-Citizen.

About two years later Mr. Lambert bought the publication and imme-
diately dropped Citizen from its masthead. It has since been known as the
Harvey Tribune.

For many years Mr. Lambert filled the dual role of publisher-editor. He
was militant in exposing questionable motives of some of his contemporaries,
was a major influence in all elections.

He was one of the organizers of the Harvey Civic Club, the Chamber of
Commerce of its day, and served as its president and secretary.

The trying times of the depression of the early 1930's found him struggling
both journalistically and physically to maintain the morale of the panic-stricken
community. He was one of three trustees who administered the bank script
program, the medium of exchange that substituted for currency during the
grave period. He also served until his death as a member of the Bank of
Harvey Depositors' Committee.

196

Mr. Lambert was one of the founders of the Harvey Building and Loan
Association in 1911 and served it in several official capacities.

During World War I he served as a lieutenant in the southern part of
Cook County for the United States Secret Service and was a tireless worker
in behalf of Liberty Loan fund campaigns.

Mr. Lambert was an advocate of clean streams and he fought for many
years the plan which saw the installation of Burns' Ditch near Gary, Indiana.
As he predicted this project transformed the Calumet River, one of Harvey's
most precious assets, into the sluggish, polluted stream that it is today.

During the years the Tribune's facilities have moved periodically — from
15240 Broadway to 15337 Center Avenue, to 143 East 154th Street, to 150
East 154th Street, and finally to its present location, 15330 Center Avenue.

There have been several comparatively recent changes in the Tribune's
operations, most significant being that which resulted in the newspaper being
published twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In 1961 the Tuesday
edition was discontinued in favor of a Sunday edition.

FREDERIC R. DE YOUNG

Frederic R. De Young was born on September 12, 1875 at 359 West
Fifteenth Street, near Blue Island Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. When he was five
years old his parents moved to Roseland on the south side of Chicago. A few
years later they moved to South Holland.

In 1887 the De Youngs moved back to the west side of Chicago. Judge De
Young then left school and went to work for a jeweler on the west side at
a salary of $2 a week. His employer entrusted money and valuable jewelry
to his care, and he often carried such valuables to the loop by streetcar. Later
he worked as a water boy for sewer contractors. In 1890 his family returned
to South Holland, and at that time, Judge De Young secured employment with
the Pullman Company as errand boy and timekeeper at a salary of $45 a
month. In 1891 he was offered an increase of $15 a month if he would
remain with Pullman, but he decided to continue his education and entered
the Bryant and Stratton Business College. In 1892 his father sent him to Europe.

In 1893 he entered Valparaiso University, graduating therefrom in 1895
with a B.S. degree. He next entered Northwestern University School of Law,
and graduated from that institution in 1897 with an LL.D. degree.

While attending Valparaiso University, he met Miriam Cornell of Boone
Grove, Indiana. In 1901, on the occasion of his twenty-sixth birthday, he
married her, and thereafter they resided at 50 East 155th Street, Harvey,
Illinois until 1925 when Judge De Young and his family moved to the Hyde
Park area of Chicago.

Judge De Young's parents were Mr. and Mrs. Peter De Young, his father
having been a Justice of the Peace of Thornton Township for a number of
years. Judge De Young had three sisters, two of whom pre-d-eceased him. His
other sister. Kathryn De Young, still resides in South Holland.

Judge and Mrs. De Young had two children, a daughter, Ruth, formerly
Women's Editor of the Chicago Tribune, and at the time of her death in
1953 the wife of Herbert V. Kohler, now a practicing attorney in Chicago,
and a member of the firm of Miller, Gorham, Wescott and Adams.

Judge De Young was named City Attorney for the City of Harvey in
1907 and was re-named to two additional terms ending that service in 1919.
In 1914 he was elected a member of the Illinois General Assembly from the
Seventh Senatorial District and re-elected in 1916. In 1918 he was the Re-

197

publican nominee for the Judge of Probate Court of Cook County, being de-
feated in the election by the incumbent, Judge Henry Horner. Both Judge De
Young and Judge Horner, however, were later elevated to the highest State
offices in the judicial and executive departments, respectively.

In 1921 he was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by
Governor Frank O. Lowden, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Judge John P. McGoorty. In 1922 he was elected a delegate to the con-
stitutional convention from the Seventh Senatorial District. In the same year,
he was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court to fill one of the places created
by the new constitution. The election was of no effect because the constitution
failed of adoption by the voters. On November 6, 1923, he was elected a Judge
of the Superior Court of Cook County and served in that capacity until his
election to the Supreme Court of Illinois on June 2, 1924.

On October 11, 1928, when Judge De Young was Chief Justice, his son,
Herbert, was admitted to practice. It was the first time in the history of the
Supreme Court that a son of a sitting justice had been admitted to practice
when the father was Chief Justice.

In June 1933 at the conclusion of his first term, he was re-elected to the
Supreme Court for another nine-year term, receiving the endorsement of both
major political parties.

While residing in Harvey, Justice De Young maintained for a number of
years a law office at his residence, in addition to his loop law office. He later
had an office on certain evenings of the week, in the First National Bank of
Harvey, of which he was president for some period of time, before his judicial
service. Since he commuted to the Loop, he was well-known to many of the
Illinois Central conductors and trainmen in the days before electrification.
Judge De Young took an active part in the civic and community life of Harvey
during his residence.

He died in Chicago on November 16, 1934.

During his tenure as city attorney, then throughout his term as a member
of the Illinois House of Representatives, Mr. De Young demonstrated his
desire to improve the community he adopted as his home.

The extent of these contributions will be found elsewhere in this history.

ARTHUR E. TURNGREN

One of Harvey's outstanding public servants, Arthur E. Turngren was
brought to the community in 1891 by his parents, Rienhold and Louise, at the
age of two, from the Englewood district in Chicago where they had migrated
from Sweden and where they were married.

Arthur went to work for the Buda Company as a steam hammer operator
at the age of 14, making $1.25 per day.

In 1906 he entered the employ of the Reliable Stove Company, a division
of the American Stove Company, where he arose to become warehouse super-
visor and traffic manager until 1945 when the company moved its operations
to St. Louis and Mr. Turngren retired.

Thereafter he operated his own paint and appliance store in Harvey for
10 years.

Married to the former Helen C. Hesser of Chicago on November 11, 1909,
the Turngrens became the parents of three sons and three daughters. One son,
Harold, died in 1950. They have 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Mr. Turngren has maintained throughout his life an active interest in
civic affairs and his townsmen expressed confidence in his ability to the

198

extent that they elected him to public office for 24 consecutive years. He
served eight years as Commissioner of Public Health and Safety before ascend-
ing to the mayoralty, an office to which he was re-elected three times. No other
person in Harvey history is able to match Mr. Turngren's length of public
service.

Widely known throughout the State of Illinois, Mr. Turngren was honored
by municipal authorities when he was named president of the Illinois Municipal
league, in which almost every community in the state has membership. Prior
to serving as president, he was a member of its executive committee from
1952 to 1959.

The family residence at 15627 Vine Avenue was built by the Turngrens
in 1924.

Mr. Turngren's record as mayor is recorded under the chapter of govern-
ment in this history.

Editor's Note: Mr. Turngren died on December 3, just as this history was
going to press.

JOHN CARNEY

John Carney, his wife and their two children, Dorothy and Edward, ar-
rived in Harvey in 1890 and subsequently built two large houses in West
Harvey, one on Winchester Avenue between 147th and 148th Streets and the
other on Lincoln Avenue between 147th and 148th Streets. Significantly,
both houses are still standing and occupied.

Dorothy Carney became the bride in 1893 of Michael Ryan who had
come to Harvey the year before from Urbana, Ohio.

Mr. Ryan was to become one of the area's most talented and widely
known athletes as a semi-professional and professional baseball player. Giving
up his career in baseball he worked thereafter for many years for the Rock
Island Railroad.

Five of the seven Ryan children survive, all of them living in the Chicago
area. Seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren represent the genera-
tions which follow-ed.

Mr. Ryan died on May 14, 1941 and Mrs. Ryan on August 5, 1950.

On the male side of the Carney family, Edward Carney and Miss Anna
Trottner, who came to Harvey in 1900 with her parents from St. Louis, were
married. Mrs. Carney and a son, Edward, are still residents here.

HENRY J. STEIN

A native of LaSalle, 111., Henry J. Stein arrived in Harvey in 1889, left
the same year and returned again as a permanent resident in 1906.

Active civically throughout his long residency, Mr. Stein has been promi-
nent in the affairs of the Ascension Church and of Garcia Moreno Council,
Knights of Columbus. He has also been active in the Harvey Moose Lodge and
the Ascension Holy Name Society. Interested in politics he served for 40 years
as a Democratic precinct captain in the days when such officials were elected
by the people.

Mr. Stein has been a most avid worker in compiling background material
for this city history and has spent many hours in consulting with pioneers
and with officers of numerous civic organizations. His contributions to the
finished product have been invaluable.

199

LOUIS BOUDREAU

Perhaps no person, past or present, has brought more widespread recog-
nition to the City of Harvey than Louis Boudreau, an outstanding figure in the
field of sports almost from his days as a boy at the Whittier grade school.

Lou was born in Harvey on July 17, 1917 and from the date of his birth
was destined for a lofty position in the world of sports. His father had attained
a wide reputation as a baseball player, part of his playing career being spent
in professional circles. He hoped for great things from his son and almost
as soon as Lou was able to walk he was equipped with glove, bat and ball.

Whenever possible Mr. Boudreau took his boy to major league baseball
games and as each defensive play materialized, the rights and wrongs of the
maneuver was explained by father to son. Likewise, he gave Lou a basic
knowledge of batting techniques — and this was to stand him in good stead
over one of the most spectacular careers in baseball history.

Strangely, it was not in the game of baseball that Lou first captured the at-
tention of the athletic world — it was as a basketball player, first in grade school,
then at Thornton Township high school where he guided the Wildcat team to
an unprecedented success, and finally at the University of Illinois.

Through three straight seasons Lou captained what became known through-
out Illinois as the "Flying Clouds," a group of sleight-of-hand performers
who completely revolutionized the high school style of play with their "fast
break" offense. They were conceded to be far ahead of their time and be-
hind Capt. Boudreau compiled a record that few had matched before or have
since. They toured Illinois each of the three years from 1933 to 1935, meeting
the state's best, and rolling up victory after victory.

Their exploits and achievements are probably best illustrated by their
record in state tournament competition.

Their first trip to Huff gymnasium on the University of Illinois campus
ended in a state championship, the first ever won by Thornton High. For the
two succeeding years they played their way through the best in Illinois, ending
up in the final game. The fortunes of competition decreed, however, that
only one championship was to be theirs — they finished as runnerup in 1934
and 1935, though there were few who would not concede they were still the
state's best.

Lou's high school days over, he enrolled at the University of Illinois where
he starred in both basketball and baseball for three years. It was at this point
that he decided to accept an offer to enter the professional baseball field and
he left school in his senior year to sign a contract with the Cleveland Indians.
It should be mentioned that the basketball captaincy he resigned was assumed
by his most capable teammate during his Thornton high days — Tom Nisbet.

As is the fate of all "rookies," Boudreau was sent to the Cleveland farm
club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa after he joined the Indians in 1938. A year later
found him assigned to the club in Buffalo, N. Y. In midseason the parent club
called him up, ending a short term as a minor league player.

He was an immediate success and remained in Cleveland as a player and
later a player-manager until 1951.

Boudreau's baseball records are legend and the game has bestowed upon
him many honors.

He led the American league hitters in 1944 and led American league short-
stops in fielding percentage for eight straight years. He still holds the league
fielding record for any shortstop participating in more than 100 games a year
— a mark of .9823.

200

Boudrcau participated in the record for the most double plays in a season
at his shortstop position, 134. He also holds the record for most years leading
in double plays, five straight.

He played in seven all-star games and was the all-star team's manager
in 1949, just a year after he had been named as the American League's most
valuable player.

At the age of 24 he was named the Cleveland manager, the youngest the
team had ever had.

As player-manager for nine years, Boudreau reached the pinnacle of his
fame in 1948 when Cleveland won the American league championship after
a historic playoff game against the Boston Red Sox — the only playoff in
American league history. On the crest of their playoff win, Cleveland went on
to take the world's championship by beating the Boston Braves four times
in a six-game series.

His days at Cleveland ended, Boudreau joined the Boston Red Sox as a
player in 1951 and the following year was named manager, a position he held
until 1955 when he became the first manager of the Kansas City Athletics.
After three years at that post he retired from active participation in the game
and in 1958 joined the staff of WGN radio station (Chicago) as a sports-
caster. He is still engaged in that capacity.

WILLIAM R. BRANDT

William R. Brandt was born in Chicago on October 24, 1872 and came
to Harvey in 1904.

Involved in the grain business during his youth, he carried on the same
profession when he purchased the Holmes Feed Store on the south side of
154th Street between Turlington and Lexington Avenues.

Subsequently he bought property across the street and moved his business
there. This property is now the site of the Brandt Theatre which was named in
his honor. *

Later he purchased the property and conducted his grain business on the
land presently occupied by the F. W. Woolworth Company.

Mr. Brandt was elected a member of the First National Bank in Harvey
board of directors in 1937, a position he held until his death on September 20,
1954 at the age of 82. He was also a member of the Thornton Township High
School board of education for nine years.

PIONEER FAMILIES

Many of the city's pioneers have died through the years but in innumerable
instances their names have been carried through the years by second and third
generations. North Harvey had its share of these early residents, and in many
cases their descendents are still residing here. Perhaps some of these names
will be recalled:

Mrs. Jennie Burgess Harry Wurtman

Benjamin Kellogg William Coleman

G. Evers Fred Hock

D. W. Longbrake M. Lenke

Charles Cornell Joseph Haines

W. P. Cadmus B. L. Wooten

Henry Hart William Rodenburg

William Hawkins Levi Beers

201

A. F. Reynolds
John De Graff
R. C. Schreiber
Charles Rewald
Anna Schroeder
Frank Halos
Theodore King
George Ducett
Arie DeRuiter
C. J. Cowan
James Hayes

Likewise there were many prominent famil
in what is commonly known as West Harvey.
J. H. McKee
William Rickhoff
Louis Martin
Frank Evely
George Swanson
Charles Reid
Mathias Zilligen
Henry C. Austin
J. L. Kitchen
John Kraay
Robert Livers
Thomas Nicholson
Charles Frederick
Charles Moran
Judge Caldwell
David Reeser

Walter Flewelling
William Jewell
John H. Blair
Orlando J. Bowen
M. M. Green
H. S. Bloodgood
Fulton L. Casler

B. W. Onyon
The Casebeers
August Schneider
Isaac N. Shumard

ies who established themselves
They were:

The Pringle family

Michael Brink

John Carney

M. J. Ryan

Louis Buehlow

George Salkeld

Joseph Haviland

S. P. Rich

Joseph Para

Robert Gifford

George J. Messinger

Charles Batt

C. B. Schabbel
Emil Dathan
Fred W. Drogula

202

CONCLUSION

This final page marks the conclusion of months of painstaking effort
during which there have been many discouragements but which have con-
tained, nevertheless, many interesting hours. The task has been tedious at
times, at other times rewarding.

With the passing of years, memories are sometimes dimmed and in many
instances, although every effort was made to obtain vital information, there
was no source which could produce it.

There will be those who find important things not contained in this volume
but time and inadequate assistance made further pursuit of such information
both impossible and impractical.

We who worked so hard to produce this document feel, however, that its
contents have the necessary ingredients of a community history and leave it
now up to someone in the future to record what is not here and add that
which transpires between today and some day in the distant future.

Many members of the Historical Society committee named to assist in its
production were unable to do so for one reason or another and the responsi-
bility fell on the shoulders of two men, Walter Haines and Henry Stein. The
editor would be remiss, indeed, if the last tap of his typewriter did not include
a sincere expression of gratitude for the unselfish, tireless efforts of these
two men. It can be truly said that without them this volume would never have
passed the talking stage.

Alec C. Kerr

Note: This history had gone to press when the city's second banking institu-
tion, the First State Bank of Harvey, opened to the public on December 15,
1962. The First National takes this means of welcoming a sister institution and
its officers and board of directors extend a most cordial welcome. We regret
that time precludes a more extensive resume of the First State's organizational
procedures.

203

THE HARVEY OF 1962 -THE BIGGEST LITTLE INDUSTRIAL CITY IN ILLINOIS

204

BUSINESS GUIDE OF HARVEY-1900

BAKERS
Beuhler, Wm, 98 E. 154th
Breyer, Henry, 169 E. 147th
Craver, E. E., 179 E. 154th
Rowe, H. J., 15721 Finch
Ladies' Exchange, 15342 Center

BANKS
Bank of Harvey, 194 E. 154th

BARBERS
Barbee, Thos., 15418 Columbia
Dawson, M. H., 186 E. 154th
DeLaMater, F., 199 E. 154th
Dolan, Peter B., 15408 Park
Houck, Philip, 117 E. 154th
Irwin, Chas. H., 207 E. 154th
Scott. M. J., Denham Bldg.,
Page and 147th

BICYCLES AND REPAIRS
Hickman, F. B. and C. G.,

15328 Main
Reeder, J. C, 15334 Columbia

BILLIARDS AND POOL
Fox, J. B., 16344 Park
Low, C. M., 203 E. 154th

BLACKSMITHS
Greenwell, John, 15334 Park Ct.
Vincent, J., 211 E. 153rd

BREEDERS' ASSOCIATIONS

American Aberdeen-Angus — Secre-
tary's Office, 15438 Turlington

CIVIL ENGINEERS
Hobson, T. D., City Hall

CLOTHING AND SHOES
Becker, H., 200 E. 154th
DeVoe, J. H., 175 E. 154th

(shoes only)
Ewing & Orser, 191 E. 154th
Eagle Store, 185-7 E. 154th
Howland, F. G., 195 E. 154th
Mayer, Rosenthal & Co., 154th and

Park

Roeder Bros., 205 E. 154th St.

CIGAR DEALERS
Cranson, Ervin, 154th and Park
Fowler, Fred, 193 E. 154th
Pierce, A. G., Park Ct. and 154th

CIGAR MANUFACTURERS
Low, C. M., 203 E. 154th
O'Shaughnessy, R., 15711 Lexington

COAL
Beck, John, 15201 Columbia
Harvey Coal Co., 167 E. 154th
Kelly, D. S., Park Ct. and 154th
Wausau Lumber Co., Commercial
and 154th

COMMISSION PRODUCE
Bell & Co., 15339 Center
Southwick, T. A. 15810 Myrtle
Piazza, Frank, 15330 Columbia

CONFECTIONERY
Bereolos Bros. & Co., 196 E. 154th
Frazer, John, Denham Bldg.,

147th and Page
Manny, O. P., 147th and Page
Waterfield & Waterfield,

149 E. 154th
Wiedemann, W. L. A., 169 E 154th

CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS
Bloodgood, J. C, 15418 Myrtle
Hobson, T. D., City Hall
Simmons, J. R., 15546 Turlington

CONTRACTOR-CEMENT
SIDEWALKS
Bloodgood & Stout, City Hall

CARPENTERS
Wilson, F. A., 15336 Center

DENTISTS
Braley, J. C, 192 E. 154th
Craver, A. S., 186 E. 154th
Stevenson, G. A., 168 E. 154th

205

DEPARTMENT STORES
The Eagle, 185-187 E. 154th

DRAYMEN
Clark, C. W„ 15214 Turlington
Fairchild, G. A., 15703 Loomis
Goostry, W. B., 15614 Myrtle
Schoeler, Chas., 15910 Lexington
Stevenson, Frank, 15517 Center
Webster, J. E., 15312 Columbia
Young, Frank, 14518 Halsted

DRESSMAKERS

Beichner, Josephine, 211 E. 154th
Culp, Mrs. Mary, 91 E. 154th
Day, Mrs. L. E., 15225 Center
Davis, Mrs. Ida,

15212 Lexington
King, Sarah, 147th and Page
Martin, L. Pearl, 14926 Paulina
Snediker, Addie B., 125 E. 155th
Welch, Mrs. Anna R.,

15337 Turlington

DRUGGISTS

Healy, Frances, 201 E. 154th
Oliver, J. W. & Co., 189 E. 154th

DRY GOODS

Eagle Store, 185-7 E. 154th
Howland, F. G., 195 E. 154th

ELECTRIC LIGHT AND WATER
Harvey Water & Light Co.,
15430 Park

FLOUR AND FEED
Nicholson, W. M., 128 E. 154th
Thompson, W. B., 187-9 E. 153rd

FURNITURE
Eagle Store, 185-7 E. 154th
Langley, E. N., 15327 Columbia
Werner, A., 15307 Center

GROCERS
Braley & Bosworth, 153 E. 154th
Craver, E. E., 179 E. 154th
Crossman, Wm, 188 E. 157th
Frank, Will, 183 E. 154th
Heindel, A. D., 15412 Columbia
Holman, A. B„ 15204 Center
Husband, Mrs. T. D., 158 W. 147th

Kehew, J. H., 15602 Myrtle
Lyster, P. H., 183 E. 153rd
Martin, T. C, 177 E. 153rd
Nichols, F. H., 15332 Columbia
Truax, Mrs. Edith M., 15700 Park
VanDreal G., 15912 Park
Ward & Rank, 283 E. 147th
Werner, Mrs. D., 15301 Center

GROCERIES AND MEATS
Adsley, E., 181 E. 154th
Brink, E., 14832 Page
Bullock, J. W., 179 E. 154th St.
Flewelling, E. N., 198 E. 154th
Rack, Theo., 599 E. 147
Schmidt, Joseph H., 74 E. 147th
Veerhusen, H. B., 155 E. 154th
Weeks, R. H., 15324 Columbia

HARDWARE
Hilbish, D. H., 15336 Columbia
Riordan, H. C, 15319 Columbia
West, C. H., 15326 Columbia

HEALTH FOODS
Keith, B. W., 166 E. 154th

HOUSE MOVER
Lane Ralph, 15426 Park

ICE
Beck, John, 15201 Columbia

JEWELER

Carpenter, S. A., 178 E. 154th

KEROSENE AND GASOLINE
Mills, J. S., 15514 Lexington
Harvey Oil Co., 15304 Loomis

LAUNDRIES
Beebe, A. E., 202 E. 154th
Harvey Steam Laundry,

199 E. 154th
Park Avenue Laundry, 15334 Park
Van's Hand Laundry, 190 E. 154th

LAWYERS AND JUSTICES
Bloodgood, J. C, Police Magistrate,

City Hall
De Young, Frederic, R., 151 E. 155th
Dunning, A. B., 15026 Columbia

206

Mouser, I. J., Justice,

15338 Columbia
Scott, H. M., Justice,

Park Ct near 154th
Stobbs, F. L., 97 E. 152nd
Stowe, Geo. E., 211 E. 154th

LIVERY
Davidson & Durst, 212 E. 153rd

MERCHANT TAILORS
Evving & Orser, 191 E. 154th
Mayer, Rosenthal & Co.,
154th and Park

MEATS

Andrew, John, 15337 Center
Cassell & Coddington,

15340 Columbia
Wait, A., 171 E. 154th

MILK DEALERS
Carney, John, 14717 Lincoln
Dockweiler, C. 15218 Columbia
Van Lanningham, P. B.,
15310 Turlington

MILLINERS
Drake, C. G., 15308 Center
Gilbert, Nettie, 15803 Lexington
Hill, Mrs. H. D., 209 E. 154th
I Mathews, Emma, 190 E. 154th
[Swett, Mrs. J. A., 15318 Loomis

MUSIC TEACHERS
Hutton, Lizzie, 15726 Turlington

NEWSDEALERS
lEllis, Joseph, M., 15315 Columbia

NEWSPAPERS AND PRINTERS
\manda Smith Orphan Home Helper

147th and Desplaines
Tommercial Journal,

15232 Columbia
jospel Farmer, 15340 Center
3raybill, J. K., 14614 Jefferson
ierald, 15340 Center
Tribune-Citizen, 15232 Columbia

NOTIONS
^Fevre, R. B., 15711 Carse
vtosher, C. J., 14908 Page

PAINTS, OILS, WALL PAPER
Bailey & Carter, 15406 Columbia

PAINTERS AND PAPER HANGERS
Besemer, A. A., 15138 Vine
Colby, Fred Sr., 15344 Park
Cranson, Ervin, 14613 Green
Ellis, E. D., 14764 Spaulding
Ellis, D. W., 15419 Lexington
Myers, M. H., 15845 Loomis
Nichols, J. D., 15330 Turlington
Woodward, Geo. S., 15342 Center

PHOTOGRAPHY
Chenoweth, Geo. D., 182 E. 154th
Walton, J. N., 167 E. 154th

PHYSICIANS
Franklin, W. A., 15334 Center
Keifer, E. G., 125 E. 155th
Kitchen, J. L., 14808 Page
Morse, M. R., 15412 Center
Noble, T. A., 15310 Columbia
Rose, Marie F., 189 E. 154th
Stevenson, B. T., 168 E. 154th

PLUMBERS
Armington, C. S., 167 E. 154th
Cassell, I., 130 E. 154th
Chamers & Weiser, 188 E. 154th
Hill, David, 192 E. 154th

RAILROADS

Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland & St.
Louis (Big Four) Pass. Sta., Illi-
nois Central Station, Park Ave.

Chicago Electric Traction Co. (street
electric) Offices, 88th and Vin-
cennes, Chicago

Chicago Terminal Transfer (belt
freight line), Pass. Sta., Columbia,
North of 152nd; freight depot, E.

155th near Halsted

Grand Trunk System — Pass. Sta.,
Columbia, N. of 152nd; freight
depot. Commercial near 153rd

Illinois Central — Pass. Sta., Park,
S. of 154th; freight depot, Com-
mercial and 154th

207

REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
Applegate, C, 194 E. 154th
Beck J. Oscar, 15201 Columbia
Brown, James, M., 14836 Hoyne
Cranker, J. W., 14620 Jefferson
Delamater, Frank L., 154th near

Park
Dunavan, A. F., 15342 Center
Gardner, B. O., 167 E. 154th
Harvey Land Association,

15432 Park
Hutton, J. G., 189% E. 154th
Mouser, I. J., 15338 Center
Mynard, H. H., 141 E. 154th
Rogers, W. D., 15432 Park
Scott & Lostetter, Park Ct. near 1 54th
Stillman, J. R., 178 E. 154th
Utley & Daniels, 188 E. 154th

RESTAURANTS
Duck, W. F., 15414 Park
Goddard, L. S., 15420 Park
Kirk, Mrs. J. B., 15426 Columbia
King, Mrs. S. W. 15404 Columbia
Millison Hotel, 197 E. 154th
New York House, 15408 Columbia
Paulsen H. 15247 Columbia
Rood, F. A., 15412 Park
Seasongood, Mae, 15404 Park

SALOONS
Freeman, G. S., 195 E. 152nd
Garney, Joseph, 254 E. 147th
Mann, John, 15218 Park

Maxwell, Thos., L., 179 E. 152nd
McLatchy, Wm., 189 E. 152nd
Lussen, H. J., 191 E. 152nd

SEWING MACHINES
Little, Geo., 15406 Columbia
Werner, A., 15307 Center

SHOE REPAIRING
Lindberg, Frank, J. P., 179 E. 153rd

TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES
Chicago Telephone Co. Exchange,

189 E. 154th
Postal Telegraph Co., 15430 Park
Western Union Telegraph Co., Illi-
nois Central depot, Park, South
of 154th

TINNERS
Cassell, L, 130 E. 154th
Green, Wm., Park Ct., S. of 153rd

TRAINED NURSES
Lawrence, Mrs. J. C, 46 E. 154th
Ratcliff, Annie, 15638 Myrtle
Rounthwaite, Dora I., 15214 Center

WOOD AND METAL WORKERS
Harvey Novelty Works, 152nd PI.
Kraysher, Louis, Halsted and 152nd

UNDERTAKERS
Barnes and Barnett, 151 E. 154th
Kerr, W. E., 211 E. 154th

208

oJ'

kOU*Dei